Harry Potter and the Fight against Fate
by Amberile
Summary: In a freak accident, during the ultimate battle, 21 year old Harry is send back through time and space to that fateful day on Halloween. This is the story about Harry’s desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is now in.
1. Power of sorrow and love

**Fight against Fate**

_Author Name_: Amberile  
_Rating_: PG  
_Spoilers_: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP, HBP. Written after Half-Blood Prince.  
_Genre:_ Alternate Universe, Adventure  
_Era:_ Multiple Eras  
_Main Characters_: Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Eleanor, Ron, Dumbledore, Draco, N&P Flamel  
_Ship(s_): G/H, (for now, but might change as characters and relationships develop.)

_Summary:_ In a freak accident, during the ultimate battle, 21 year old Harry is sent back through time and space to that fateful day on Halloween. This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is now in.

_Disclaimer_: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author note: **_**After a long time and a lot of requests I am finally going over my story and fixing some of the mistakes. So let me know if there is something I need to change in the other chapter so I know to look at it. Thanks**._

_Thanks for __**FairyMei33**__for revising this chapter._

**Prologue - Power of sorrow and love **

It was pitch black and the steady drip-drip of water could be heard from the dungeon roof. Harry was excited, but also extremely anxious. This was it, before him was the last foul piece of Voldemort's soul. Harry thought of all the people and friends he had lost, starting with Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore. The past six years had literally been **hell** on earth. Always running, hiding; waiting for the day when he finally destroyed the last Horcrux and could be able to face that bastard and rid the world of his evil reign. There was no one left… Since Ron's death, Harry had been left alone, all of his friends murdered at the hands of either Voldemort or his Death Eaters. The wizarding world was in shambles and the ministry now non-existent. If not for the assistance of France and America, there would be noting left of Britain. The Muggles assumed that all the murders and violence were some scheme of a hostile terrorist group, so naturally all their efforts were in vain. Harry learned a lot from the foreign Hit-wizard units. After Tonks and Moody had died, there was no one else left to complete his training. So, out of desperation he, Ron, Hermione and Neville had sought their help.

"_Focus Potter, this is not the time to get nostalgic," _Harry reprimanded himself. It took a lot of concentration to remove all the wards around the Horcrux and then destroy it. He could not afford to mess up when he was so close to the end of his goal. With one last burst of magical energy, the Horcrux was reduced to ash.

Harry panted; it always took a lot of his power to destroy a Horcrux. Harry consoled himself, this was the last one! He had finally done it! Now, however, was the most dangerous time for Harry; his magical core was almost completely drained, if he was not careful he could pass out and be in a coma for days. He had to stay focused, he could not let that happened again. The previous time he had done that, he'd had friends to look after him, but now he was all alone. Sleeping in one of Voldemort's fortresses was not a good idea.

Harry took a moment to centre him self again, trying to stabilize his breathing. He had to gather his magic so that he could Apparate out.

Suddenly, all his senses started to scream at him; his scar started to burn with an uncomfortable familiarity and intensity. He could literally feel the magical whiplash as Voldemort and thirty of his servants appeared around him. Instantly he became aware of the anti-apparition and portkey wards activating.

Harry knew he was in no shape to face Voldemort right now. Fate, however, had other plans; he knew this was the final moment. He would kill or be killed. He ignored the pain tearing through his body as he called up all his magical reserves.

"So it ends, Tom," Harry said with a calm he did not feel, allowing no hint of his anxiety and pain in his voice. Harry's bright red shield was glowing around him, clashing with Voldemort's sickly green shield.

"I think not, Potter," Voldemort spat back, facing Harry, wand raised. "I have taken certain… precautions to ensure that I will win today Harry," he cackled.

"Well, if you mean your little trinkets, then your plan has just failed," Harry said gesturing to the pile of ash beside him. "It's just you and me now, as mortals."

Voldemort's face, which up until that point had been a block of marble, slipped. Harry could tell that he was surprised and angry to find that someone he'd thought inferior had upstaged him. Voldemort, his eyes narrowing and voice oozing malice, spat, "Be that as it may, Potter; I hope that you will find your eventual death to be as painful as it was watching your friends die."

"I want the wizarding world to once again live without the fear and torment you are inflicting upon it."

"Oh, how noble of you… wouldn't expect any better from a foolishly brave, self-sacrificing Gryffindor," Voldemort cruelly laughed.

"Enough chit-chat Tom; let's end this."

"Are you so eager to die?"

Harry laughed at this. He'd felt like dying since the moment he saw Sirius fall through the veil, and every time someone close to him fell, another part of him went with them. After a while, he wanted to die himself because he could not handle the feelings of pain, loss and guilt anymore. Harry'd had to convince himself not to end it almost daily and on bad days, when someone close to him had died, it was even more difficult. The only reason he did not give in to this feelings of darkness was the promise he made to Ginny while she laid dying in his arms. _Ginny_. His dearest Ginny, how could he have not noticed her for so long? All those wasted years they could have been together. _"This is for you, my love,"_ he thought casting the killing curse with all the love and sorrow he had in him. He had only the memories of all the people he had lost on his mind.

To Harry's great surprise the curse that left his wand was not the green color he expected. Harry did not have time to think about it because at the same time Voldemort also cast the curse, his red eyes gleaming with evil and hate.

"_I wish I could have done this before everyone was gone,"_ Harry wished putting all his power, heart and soul behind the curse.

"Finally, unlimited power; without you I will rule the earth! No one can stop me now!"

The two curses collided in midair with an explosion of green and gold. The Death Eaters around the two combatants were instantly vaporized by the exploding magical energy.

Harry was blinded by the light but knew he had to hold on for all he was worth. With the last bit of his willpower, he forced power he did not even knew he possessed into the connection. White light surrounded him.

Then every thing went black…

"_Is this what death feels like?"_ Harry thought, drifting through blackness. _"The next great adventure sure is dark, not to mention painful."_ It felt like someone was hitting his head with a sledgehammer right where his scar was. _"Is this where my parents, Sirius and Ginny are?"_ He could not help it; he just had to find them. He missed them so much. "Mom! Ginny!" He tried to call, but for some strange reason his vocal cords would not co-operate. _"Why was that?"_ Finally, his eyes responded to the command to open. Light, there was light, although it seemed very bright. _"Must be heaven, so my soul was not eternally damned?"_ he wondered. He wanted to bring his hand up to shield his eyes from the brightness, but he could not move. _"Well maybe not. I'm sure there is no pain in heaven, and surely you would be able to control your own limbs. Ah well, this must mean I am in that other place. Hope I managed to bring Tom with me." _The floor suddenly started to shudder, massive footsteps that shook the entire world around him. A huge, dark shape loomed above him. Harry could not help it, he cried out in terror as a massive hand reached for him. He was lifted up towards the massive creature's mouth. The creature was surrounded by the blinding light, leaving his face surrounded by darkness. The enormous dark head of this unknown beast loomed over him. "_Terror?"_ It had been so long since he had been afraid. The only thing he feared after all he had been through was his friends dying. Since they were all gone… He had nothing to fear, what did it matter if he got hurt, what did it matter if he died? Dying, the ultimate relief of pain. _"Or so I thought, seems that assumption was really wrong, this is the worst pain imaginable. Looks like I'm to be tormented by a titan for the rest of eternity."_

"There, there, little 'arry, yeh'll be all right now, just yeh wait."

"_Hagrid? What? How? He died in the forest protecting the centaurs, those ungrateful beasts!" _He thought bitterly. _"What cruel trick is this? Hagrid could not be here!"_

Harry looked again, making sure his eyes were not deceiving him. It was difficult to focus; his head hurt so badly and he was so confused. However, it was Hagrid, though there was something strange going on. He was huge, even by giant standards. Larger than Harry remembered he ever was. It baffled Harry's mind just how large Hagrid was. _"What was going on here, why was this happening, where am I?!_" Questions chased each other through his mind.

The world moved around Harry as the half-giant picked him up. He was taking Harry somewhere, but Harry was unable to see where he was going. Harry realized he did not have his glasses, which was why everything around him was blurry, save for Hagrid's face as it was mere inches from his own. Harry closed his eyes hoping to counteract the dizziness that were threatening to overcome him. He relied on his other senses to observe the world around him. He had learnt how to depend on all his senses in the battle for the light, he had even developed a "six and seventh sense for danger."

Harry became aware of other sounds and smells around him.

"_So loud!"_ The thunderous breaking of timber and plaster was almost too much for Harry to bear, as Hagrid stepped over it, dislodging it or kicking it out of the way. Making a path to the unknown place, he was taking Harry. Harry recognized the sounds and smells, with all the explosions he had live through. This place was another sight of destruction; this meant he could be any place. That did not help him much to find out were he was or what was going on.

"_Cold, so very cold. Where am I? Am I now reduced to think only primitive thoughts of cold, hunger, pain and fear?"_ Harry was annoyed with himself for feeling like this but in a way these feelings were also comforting. It meant that he was still alive, still human.

Harry was starting to get anxious and frustrated. He was so confused and had so many questions, but it did not seem like he would be able to find the answers. He really did not enjoy this feeling of helplessness.

Then, Harry became aware of a very strange noise. It was a loud rumbling that drowned out all of the other sounds. _"What more can go wrong?_" Harry thought as the racket cut into his head. Harry watched as a dark-clad rider brought a flying motorcycle in for a two-point landing nearby. This was a scene out of a distant dream. _"Flying Motorcycle?"_ Hagrid stopped walking at last. It had hurt every step that Hagrid had taken. The mystery rider got off the bike and stood for a moment, taking in the scene. The new arrival was also too big to be a normal human, but almost looked tiny compared to Hagrid's bulk. The man shook his head in sorrow and stepped into the light from Hagrid's lantern.

It was Sirius... _"Sirius_!?" A younger, healthier Sirius without the hollow look in his eyes that Azkaban left, although they now appeared full of worry for the scene before him, _"How could Sirius also be here? I saw him die, I saw him fall through that veil!"_

It was then that everything came together for Harry. It now made sense! Now he knew why his friends were still alive and so "huge". It was Halloween of 1981 and he was a baby again. He was back where it all began – Godric's Hollow.

"_I don't know how, or why this happened, but I can save them all. I'll have to grow up again, not a fun prospect. At least I have a chance now; I can save them! Ginny, my love, this time I will not let him get you. I will not let him hurt any of you. It will be different this time. He will never again have a chance to wreak the destruction on the world as he did last time. __**Never Again**__! I won't let that happen!" _He had another chance!

This realization was a wonderful, but ultimately scary thought. He would have to face all of the obstacles and horrors that he had already overcame again. He did not know if he could do some of those things again. He knew he had to try however. Everything was so confusing and frustrating to Harry. _"Why did this happen?" _Harry cried out in anguish, but the two arguing men ignored his cry.

A/N

This is my first story; hope you enjoyed it. _**Please read and review**_. Constructive criticism is appreciated.


	2. Betrayal and opportunity

**Fight against Fate by Amberile**

_Main Characters_: Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Eleanor, Ron, Dumbledore, Draco, N&P Flamel  
_Ship(s_): G/H, (For now, but might change as characters and relationships develop.)

_Summary_: In a freak accident, during the ultimate battle, 21 year old Harry is sent back through time and space to that fateful day on Halloween. This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is now in. A world of alternative magic, magical creatures and unexpected friends.

_Disclaimer_: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I'm just a poor African student please don't sue me. _I also give credit to Olafr for using some of his ideas._

A/n I am totally blown away with all the positive reviews, it inspired me to update as soon as possible. Thanks a lot.

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOThanks for FairyMei33for revising this chapter. oOoOoOoOoOoO**_

**Chapter 1 Betrayal and opportunity**

The motorcycle's abrupt landing jerked Harry from his sleep. He did not know what had happened since he had fallen asleep, but he was content. He was warm and safe; nuzzled tightly in Hagrid arms. _"Maybe I should just go back to sleep."_ Harry was extremely tired and he hurt all over. It felt like he was involved in a battle, but he knew that was not the case. Well maybe this "first" meeting with Voldemort could be compared to a battle, after all, he was only a baby, but compared to the things Harry had lived through already, this was a minor skirmish. _"Wonder how and why I'm here, back in this time?"_ he thought half through his sleep.

Unfortunately the loud booming voice of Hagrid woke Harry from his attempt to go back to sleep.

"…fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Harry wished he could sleep, he did not feel so much pain in the unconscious state, but now he was too awake to try sleeping again.

"_Might as well try to find out where I am and what's going on."_ Harry tried to look around to see whom Hagrid was talking to. The sound of his loud voice still hurt Harry's head. Harry was happy to recognize Dumbledore and McGonagall. _"This means I'm safe,"_ he thought, as he looked around a bit more to try to figure out where he was.

"Is that where-?" whispered Professor McGonagall.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

Harry did not listen to the rest of their conversation; he already knew everything about his cursed scar. He had more pressing matters to attend to. Like finding out "Where the Hell he was?" The place looked vaguely familiar but he could not remember where he had seen it before. It was a place in a distant memory. For some reason he had a feeling of overwhelming dread. _"Why is that?"_ Harry thought while trying to remember. Everything was a bit fuzzy at the moment. The only thing he was sure of now was the overpowering headache that did not want to go away.

"_**No**__!"_ Harry thought in horror as he finally recognized the environment. It had been so many years since he had left this place, hoping that he would never ever have to see it and the awful people that lived there ever again.

"_No, you can't leave me here! Not with __**themNo**_" he tried to shout. Unfortunately, only a sad mumbling sound came out, that became a loud cry as Harry's frustration at being unable to make him self understood overwhelmed him. _"Why did I have to come back as a baby, a stupid helpless - not to mention speechless - baby! I can't be left here again! It could kill me!!"_

"Oh my; poor little dear," said McGonagall as she took Harry from Hagrid. She tried to comfort the baby, but nothing seemed to work.

Harry looked at her in confusion as she pointed her wand at him. _"What on earth is she doing?_" he thought, and almost immediately thereafter felt an absolute calmness overcome him.

"_I can't believe she did that! Bitch!" _Harry raged, fighting against the charm.

"Thank you, Minerva. Little Harry would have woken up the whole neighbourhood," a voice said with approval.

"_That is Albus Dumbledore,"_ Harry mused to himself with a kind of calm acceptance. _"It was enough to know he had a second chance, he had to take the good with the bad._" However, he could still not help but think. _"Ruthless old bastard, just like you were at school. If you hadn't gotten yourself killed, things would be __**so **__different; in fact if you'd only told me the truth about that darn prophecy everything could have been different, maybe more people would have survived and I would have been more prepared! Bastard! This time I will be prepared! I won't let anything get in my way!"_ With that, he started screaming again, breaking through the calming charm.

The adults looked at the little bundle in surprise.

"He must really be unsettled; do we really have to leave him here Albus?"

"I've already explained that it's the only way."

"_No, it's not! You can't leave me here! Please!"_

Then Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it over Harry. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, his mind going numb; he tried to fight it, but he was already drifting off into dreamland once more, unable to help himself.

Dumbledore took Harry from his deputy's hands, stepped over the low garden wall, and walked to the front door. He laid the little baby gently on the doorsteps, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.

"Well," said Dumbledore. "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was tossing and turning in his bed in the cupboard under the stairs, it had been three years since his appearance in his 'youthful' body. _"Three unbearably long years!_" The nightmares of his past were still haunting him, and his present surroundings provided no comfort. Almost every night, he woke after reliving a scene where his friends and loved ones died. Ginny's death was always foremost. But he'd learned not to cry out when he awoke like that, the Dursleys did not appreciate being woken in the middle of the night, especially not by him. Petunia had put him under the stairs so that he would not wake them in the night. Harry knew he had to make contact with the magical world; the sooner he could, the faster he could start to prepare. In all this time, he'd tried his hardest to connect with his magic; unfortunately, it would appear that his small body could not do it. Therefore, he had to wait patiently for his body to catch up to his mind… a rather frustrated mind. He had to wait for his magical core to develop. He truly hoped he would not have to wait until he was eleven before things started to happen.

Then it happened! Around his 'fourth' birthday, he managed to let small sparks appear between his fingers. It was small, almost insignificant, but it was a sign that he would soon be able to do magic. Harry could not remember when the last time was that he was as happy as on that day. Soon, he could start with his plan to get away from the Dursleys.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was jolted to wakefulness by the dreadful sound of his Uncle's bellowing voice. He leaped out of bed as fast as he could. He stood against the far wall of the cupboard beneath the stairs; he had learned that they had trouble reaching him there. When they could not get to him, it usually made them even angrier, but they could not touch him. Harry usually only left his room when they were not at home or when it was dark and they were sleeping. The only other times he came out of hiding nowadays were when he thought they were relatively calm.

The shouting continued outside his cupboard.

"_I haven't done anything wrong today, not yet anyway._" His face and arm still hurt from his previous 'misdemeanour' and he had decided to cool it for a few days. Turning Dudley green so that he would look like the watermelon he is was, apparently, not a good idea. He could hear his uncle's shouts again. _"What is he going on about?"_

His uncle ripped open the cupboard door, waving something in his hand frantically.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Uncle Vernon bellow.

Harry had no idea what was going on. He knew, if he asked, it would only infuriate his Uncle even more. If he stayed silent however, it would only bring his Uncles' wrath upon him faster.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said, hoping that his Uncle would not explode.

"You don't know!" Vernon shouted. "A stinking owl woke us up this morning delivering this letter!"

"But Uncle, owls don't deliver post, they're wild animals," Harry tried to answer innocently.

Harry held his breath for a moment. He was beginning to lose hope. After months of trying and practising, he had managed to begin to grasp his magic. A lot he'd managed out of desperation. At first, he could only produce sparks like the first time, but that alone was enough to bring down the full wrath of his uncle upon him. Harry could not remember being beaten like this in his first life. In contrast to the first time, Harry had an adult perception of what his uncle was doing to him. He found it very difficult to control his reaction when his uncle abused him. What made it more difficult was that he still had his knowledge and memories of how he would have handled this situation if he were still in his other body as an adult. His mind knew all the self-defence and fighting techniques, but his four-year-old body could not do it. He could do nothing to stop it. He just had to stand still and take the beating. Harry really did not like to feel so powerless. He was a man of action; he always took control of the situation, no matter what it was. He was used to determining his own destiny and taking care of himself. Being dependent on and controlled by the Dursleys' was murder. Did this letter mean someone was looking out for him, that they'd finally noticed all his efforts? Excitement and hope leaped into Harry's heart. _"Perhaps someone was going to take me away from these horrible people at last!"_

"Don't be smart with me boy. This has to do with your unnatural weirdness," his Uncle said approaching him, and trying to grab him.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I really don't know how all that stuff happened!" Harry answered knowing that one major punishment was coming, but he still did not know what the letter was about, or what was really going on.

_Punishment_, a word he had come to know very well in this new life of his. Only a few months ago he had received his first punishment. That was even before his efforts to produce magic had worked. Aunt Petunia thought it would be nice to have an extra hand in the kitchen. Naturally, Harry was the first choice. She started to give him chores to do, while she spent time with her precious Duddydums. Harry could not remember it starting this early in his other life but then again, his memories of that time was rather vague; he had suppressed most of it. The thing to cause their displeasure at that first occasion was when he dropped a frying pan full of bacon onto the kitchen floor. The pan had proved to be too heavy for him to hold. _"What are these people thinking, expecting a four year old to cook?" _Harry had thought at that moment, yet he could not say anything about it

After that, things started to deteriorate fast and he was given less and less food and more and more chores and punishment. A desperate plan started to develop in his mind, it did not fit in with his original ideas, but he was starting to get hopeless. Between his limited sleep, because of his horrible nightmares and bad nutrition, Harry doubted he would even make it to his eleventh birthday. He would have to force Dumbledore and the stupid Ministry to remove him from this hell. He would make it impossible for them to keep him there. The only way he could think of to do that was his magic, magic of the seemingly 'accidental' kind.

So the long months of practicing began and he discovered some things he never knew in his old life. He was quite proficient with wandless magic! This was a rare gift, Harry only knew of Dumbledore being able to regularly display this talent. "_It just shows you what you can achieve if you're desperate enough," _Harry had though bitterly one night before he fell asleep, another restless night awaiting him. He also decided to start practising Occlumency once again; he did not want Dumbledore to discover his secret when he came to rescue him.

Harry's first successful 'accidental' magic, beside useless sparks, was to charm Dudley's hair a florescent pink. He had then done the same to Uncle Vernon and his Aunt. During his punishment for that particular incident, he'd let Uncle Vernon's belt become a stuffed toy just as it was about to land on his naked buttocks. In retrospect that had been a mistake, his uncle hit so hard that it'd still hurt despite the soft stuffing. Another drawback was that it'd enraged his uncle so much that it provoked him to use his fists for the first time. Harry could not remember that ever happening in his other life.

The problem was that his 'accidental' magic never just faded away, so the Ministry could not explain it away as an accident or simple imagination. Harry had deliberately exerted every effort to make the things he did permanent, very strange, and very visible. With his extreme actions, he intended to force the Ministry to visit him, when they came to reverse the 'damage' he caused. Harry had reasoned that an explanation as to why things had gone badly for him last time, though maybe not as bad as this time, was that he had waited till his eleventh year to find out about magic. _"I had been totally out of sight, hidden away in a stinking cupboard."_ Harry hoped that when the wizards saw how badly he was treated that they would move him elsewhere.

"_**Anywhere!!!"**_

"_Okay, maybe not anywhere, the Malfoy's would be even worse than the Dursley's," _he shivered at that dreadful thought._ "And I haven't quite figured out how the issue of the blood protection would be dealt with. If I was moved away from my Aunt, would I still have that protection?" _His mother's protection over him was linked to his aunt; would he still be able to beat the possessed Quirrell if he moved? Dumbledore had always insisted that he return to his family at least once a year._ "Well, in order to beat him, I would have to be alive; I won't be if I stay, so I really don't have a choice," _he decided after awhile.

Harry's musing was interrupted finally when his uncle got a hold on his ankle.

"Please, no; I really didn't do anything this time," Harry pled; hating his weakness and that he was reduced to this.

"I will not have freaks threatening me," Vernon shouted as the first blow struck Harry. "This is the last straw; I'm tired of them coming around fixing your weird accidents!"

Harry clenched his jaw; refusing to scream. _"If I can withstand the Cruciatus curse I can withstand this."_

"Let them come and investigate; I will not allow them inside my house. Why do they even care about you?" Vernon screamed without stopping the punching. "You're a worthless piece of rubbish, just like you bum father. If you ever try to make contact with them again, I'll kill you."

"But I didn't!! I don't even know who and what you are talking about," Harry gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and one of his ribs cracked. He was so confused, he did not even register the insulting remark about his father. He truly did not know what was going on. If he had access to an owl, he would have sent messages for help ages ago; but he couldn't. Harry really did not know what was going on. At this moment, he really didn't care anymore; pain, a now familiar companion, was once again visiting him. Something was different this time however. His uncle usually stopped after the first few punches, but now, for some reason, he just kept going. Harry could not help it anymore and screamed out in agony, his little four-year-old body could not withstand this onslaught. His magic was still too weak to protect him. His uncle just kept hitting him, ignoring all of his cries.

"I hope that I've managed to stamp all of this nonsense out of you now!! If you ever do anything to me and my family again, you know what will happen," Uncle Vernon finally said and then left the cupboard.

Harry could feel he was losing consciousness, but he was afraid that if he gave in he would never wake up again. He could not breath; he knew half of his ribs were broken. His left arm also was no use, somewhere through all the hits it had snapped when he tried to shield his face from his uncle's fists.

"_What on earth just happened?"_ he thought in confusion and shock, not really registering his situation. That thought was soon replace with a more urgent one. He needed help immediately! Initially he did not feel all the pain; he was too surprised to register most of it, now as he lay there in a heap on the dusty cupboard floor, everything was starting to come back to life. It was agony beyond belief. Somehow, he knew he was dying. His injuries were too severe to heal without medical aid. Not even in his previous live, with his magical energy fully developed, could he have repaired damage this great.

"_I don't want to die, there is still too much to do! What will become of everyone if I'm not here to stop Voldemort? Fate would not bring me back so I could die like this, would she?" _he thought. _"Help me! Anybody, I don't want to die; help me! Fawkes!" _Harry called the bird that had saved his life at school and so many times during the war, he did not know why he did it, it was his last desperate instinctual effort before darkness overcame him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Dumbledore was sitting in his office one worried man. He had recently received a letter from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes –Accidental Magic Reversal. This letter was about the squad leaders' concern over one of his charges.

Harry Potter.

Apparently, they had to visit young Harry's house more than twenty times in the last two months and that the events were of progressively increasing significance.

They were also shocked to see the deplorable living conditions Harry was suffering in. According to the letter, Harry appeared to be the subject of severe abuse by his extraordinary magic**-**phobic relatives.

The official was threatening to go to the press if there was not something done about it immediately.

The problem was that there was no other place that was more secure than that house. Harry was safe there from all Dark Wizards and evil magic. Anyway, things could not be that bad, people tend to overreact when it came to the famous Harry Potter.

As a precaution, he had written a letter to the Dursleys that morning, to ask if he could come and check in on Harry. He wanted to see things for himself before he jumped the gun and did things that were unnecessary.

At this moment, he was alone in his office; for some strange reason Fawks had 'popped' out a few minutes ago. The phoenix usually never left his office; he usually just sat on his golden perch.

It was a day filled with strange events. For some reason his monitoring instruments were not responding either. Instead of the steady stream of white smoke, there were only thin little wisps of coloured air coming out of it. Dumbledore really did not know what that meant. There was no magical forces intruding at this moment, so Harry's life and magical source should be normal; why was it fading like this?

"_I guess I should investigate,"_ he thought. However, just as he wanted to go, things returned to normal. _"Must just have been a malfunction,"_ he gathered his cloak anyway. _"Might as well make sure everything is all right; on days like this you cannot be too careful."_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry woke to an angelic, peaceful song. He slowly opened his eyes, afraid that this time, he would really awake to find himself in the after life. To his surprise, he saw a bird. A dazzling, gold and red bird was kneeling over him. It regarded Harry sombrely with its glowing black eyes. After a while, tears gathered in the bird's eyes, and before Harry could do anything to prevent it, the drops fell warmly onto his face. Somewhere deep in his mind, he recognized this bird and knew it was there to help, but the pain was so overwhelming that he could not think straight.

At this moment, he did not know what kind of bird this was, where it came from, or why it was there. Actually, he was in so much pain he did not quite know who he was either. He just knew that he wanted the hurting to stop. He did not want to die, but it was so bad at this moment that even that would be a relief. Harry tried to wipe the tears out of his eyes and clear his vision, but he found that he could not move. He was one bloody mess, beaten to a pulp. Strangely, at this moment, he was not even worried about his lack of movement. As the bird's song intensified, he found he was unable to worry about anything. Instead, he concentrated on the serene feeling he felt as the song and tears washed over him. It almost felt as though it were going all the way into his head, into his heart, into his very soul.

As the pain receded, he started to come back to himself. He remembered what had happened and where he was. _"Fawkes."_ Recognition flashed through his head. "_Fawkes came when I called him!"_ he marvelled. His mind, now clear, realized that he still could not move. Fawkes changed position, and began to spill tears once again, this time onto his broken arm. It was a very eerie feeling he experienced as he could literally feel the bones mending. Harry also noticed then that he could breathe again, without any trouble. "_He must have healed that before I became conscious_," he thought in wonder.

Eventually the tears and birdsong stopped as Fawkes stood back. Harry found that he was able move again; all his pain was gone. He sat up slowly, he did not want to push his luck, and hesitantly held out a hand to the phoenix.

"Thank you, my friend," he said quietly but with feeling. "Thank you so much, I don't know what I would've done without you."

Fawkes looked slightly confused for some reason, but trilled in reply and gently rubbed his head lightly against Harry's hand. Then, he stepped back and regarded Harry more closely; he still had that puzzled look on his face. For a long time neither of them moved, staring deep into each other's eyes. Harry felt as if the bird was looking at his very core, his inner most being. _Why did he get that feeling? _It totally unnerved him. Eventually, Fawkes broke the stare and trilled a song both comforting and triumphant that warmed Harry's heart anew before the bird departed in a flash of fire.

A single feather floated down in Fawkes' wake. A beautiful golden tail feather.

Hurriedly, Harry grabbed it, not knowing what it meant or how he would use this gift. He knew he must use this, but he did not know how. He would just have to think of a way to utilize this new resource. He carefully wrapped it in a scrap of cloth and hid it at the very base of the stairs, where only he could reach. Dudley never came into his cupboard. Somehow, this feather would change his life!

That was his last thought as he fell into a deep peaceful sleep. He had gone through a lot and even though he was healed now, his injuries had drained a lot of his energy. Beside the physical strain, he was also emotionally drained. Harry hated to feel as helpless as he did while everything happened. Being at the mercy of others, without the power and skills to protect himself; he hoped that he would soon be able to change that.

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It was later that afternoon that Harry awoke once again by his uncle screaming. _"Oh hell, not again!"_ he thought bitterly as he moved into his hiding space.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Uncle Vernon bellowed.

That peaked Harry interest. This time, it appeared that he was not to blame for his uncle's behaviour. He very slowly and carefully snuck to the cupboard door, ready to spring back to his place of safety if needed. Standing so close to the door did not help him much, however. His uncle was making such a racket that he could not hear the unknown intruders respond.

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY HOUSE AND ASK FOR **HIM**!!!"

Harry was a little excited, but also disappointed. _"If this person had only arrived a few hours earlier then he would have seen how badly I am treated. Now all the evidence is gone." _It would not help to think this way. He really appreciated Fawks' help and he did not know if he would even still be alive if the bird had not shown up when he did. _"Just my rotten luck that things should work this way."_

Professor Dumbledore's calm voice answered. "I am sorry to impose; I only want to check in on young Harry. Is he perhaps around?"

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING! LEAVE THIS HOUSE NOW!"

Harry knew why his uncle protested so acerbically. He probably was thinking of the bloody mess he had left in the cupboard this morning. _"Wonder how he's going to try and squirm out of this one. There's no way in hell he'll let anyone see me like I was this morning." _Harry really hoped Dumbledore would take him away from there. After this morning's incident, it had become even more crucial that he was rescued. _"Next time there might not be a Fawks to help me; next time I might really die."_

"I really do not want to impose; I just want to talk to little Harry," Dumbledore tried again. "Maybe if I explain things a little to him, he wouldn't have so many accidents."

"_I don't think so; I won't stop, not until you remove me,"_ Harry thought, a bit angry about the situation.

As the two men were discussing the matter, Minerva McGonagall looked around the room. She had never thought the Dursleys were nice people, and Vernon had just justified her opinion with his horrid behaviour. She looked at the walls, filled with pictures of a chubby boy; strangely enough, there was no indication that another boy also lived there. She suddenly noticed a shadow moving under the cupboard door. "_Why would someone be listening to the conversation from inside the closet?_"

"Harry is not here at the moment; he and Dudley are at a play date," Aunt Petunia answered; she had just entered the room.

"Ah, good day Petunia; I did not hear you come in," the headmaster greeted.

"Albus, I thought that we agreed that I would take care of Harry, but that your kind would never come and interfere," she answered, she was only a little bit calmer than her husband.

Harry was getting very angry; to what lengths would his scum for relatives go to cover their own arses? _"The moment I get my wand, I'll hex them so badly they won't recognize themselves; screw Ministry regulations!" _

The opening of his cupboard door interrupted Harry's vengeful thoughts. Years of instinctive reactions honed by the fight for survival in the war kicked in, and before Harry could blink, he was already standing against the opposite wall.

Harry was glad to see it was Professor McGonagall and not one of his guardians. He had to take a deep breath to calm his heart. He would have to work on his reflex reactions. While crucial in the war, it was very inappropriate at his age and in a normal, peaceful society.

Harry could see her outlined in the doorframe. He blinked against the sudden light, his 'room' was a dark and dusty place, and he was not used to the outside light. Her expression transformed from wary caution to shock. Of all the things she had expected to find, this was not one of them.

"Harry?" she asked weakly.

He nodded in reply, but tried to control his expression. He was not supposed to know her. He did not know how he looked; although now fully healed, he still had the same clothes he'd had on this morning, and they were still spattered with blood. He guessed he really must look a mess. Fawkes' tears did not heal malnutrition, so he was still the small, nearly skeletal figure that he had been this morning. Harry had to remind himself once again that he was a four-year-old; he must act his age.

He did not trust himself to speak at this moment. He had never been a good actor and he was unprepared for the role he would have to play now. This could prove to be a problem in the future. He decided to keep his distance and act the frightened little kid. This turned out to be easier than he thought it would be. Falling into the old, old habits he'd learnt to preserve himself, he felt himself slipping unintentionally along the wall away from the door, preparing to try to hide under the stair treads themselves. He watched her expression move from shock into dismay as he began to edge away from her.

"Do not be frightened, I won't hurt you," she said gently with a tight smile upon her face. "We are here to help," she pulled her head out of the closet. Harry settled down to listen to the fallout.

"I have never, in all my life, seen anything this despicable!" McGonagall said.

Harry smirked at hearing that, glad her wrath, for once, was not directed at him. _"Way to go McGonagall!" _

"What's going on Minerva?" Dumbledore asked.

"They were lying. Harry is not at a play date, he was locked up in this cupboard!"

"Don't blame us," Vernon said, "it's entirely the freaky boy's fault!"

McGonagall was almost beside herself with anger. If she were any other person, she would probably already have hexed this impudent man in front of her, but she prided herself on her good composure and self-control.

"Minerva, please calm down," Dumbledore said, knowing his deputy was on the brink. She nodded at him and glared at the Dursleys. _If looks could kill…_

"I am most disappointed with you," Dumbledore said sadly. "I came here today to discuss with you the reason why Harry felt so threatened that he is performing accidental magic, but that is unfortunately very clear now."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about. We have done nothing wrong," protested Aunt Petunia, although her voice quivered unconvincingly. She was not a party to this morning's action but she had heard everything, and had no way of knowing how Harry looked at this moment.

This last comment was too much for McGonagall; she exploded. "I can't believe this! Albus, did you see the state young Harry's in? He lives in a cupboard, for goodness sake!"

"Just a second Minerva," Dumbledore said calmly, but his frown was deepening even as he said that.

For a long time, there was absolute silence. McGonagall's outbreak was enough to silence the Dursleys', they were afraid she would use magic on them.

Something pricked on Harry's nerves, the sensation felt as if he should recognize it, but he could not place his finger on it. There was a short pause, and then it started up again. He began to wonder what Dumbledore was doing. It felt like magic, he could almost sense it in the air. Harry had developed the gift of sensing magical energy use during the war, Hermione used to call it his seventh sense. Ron used to mock him about it. Told him it was a by-product of his paranoia, and that he was getting worse than Moody. In the end though, Ron had also developed it. Maybe things like that happened if you had to dodge deadly curses constantly.

"_Was Dumbledore perhaps using Legilimency on the Dursleys?"_ Harry wondered as he tried to focus on the strange feeling of energy. Eventually the feeling stopped again; Harry heard a deep sigh outside his cupboard.

"What the matter, Albus?" asked McGonagall.

"I was pondering what to do, Minerva. Alas, you were quite right when you said that they were the very worst sort of muggle. I wish we never brought him here; and yet my reasons for placing Harry here remain as valid now as then."

"_No! He wouldn't! Would he? I can't believe I ever put my trust in him, he will leave me with them, even though he found me like this, starved and bloodied!" _Harry fumed, and his bed started to shake slightly as his emotions started to leak magic.

"I would be happy to take Harry, Albus. But... you think that _He_ is not, in fact, dead then?"

"_Please let her take me, do not leave me here; we can deal with Voldemort later; __**please!"**_

"I am quite certain of that, Minerva."

Harry was angry, but at the same time desperate and hopeless. _"They would just leave me here, like this."_ His mind leapt ahead to the only possible conclusion. Dumbledore would leave after doing something to the Dursleys, and maybe even to him. This was just like that calming charm they'd tried to cast on him when he was a baby. Only thing was that Harry did not think it would be that mild. Dumbledore would do anything to keep Harry 'safe' and that meant staying at the Dursleys, according to him. He was going to do something drastic, maybe even illegal. In his other life, Harry would never have believed Dumbledore capable of doing something like this, but somehow, this did not surprise him now. Dumbledore would do anything for 'the greater good.'

Anxiously, Harry began gathering his still feeble hold on his magic, desperate to find a way to cast a shield, or anything to prevent what he knew was about to happen. He focused all his energy on his Occlumency shields, protecting his mind; he needed to be his normal self if he wanted to make a difference; if he wanted to save his friends; save Ginny.

"I do not relish what I am about to do, Minerva, but I cannot see an alternative."

"Surely there is some other way, Albus? I mean, what you are proposing..."

"I really regret the necessity, but, I cannot see a different choice."

"The ends do not justify the means! It's illegal; I can not be a part of this."

"I'm so sorry about this, Minerva. _Obliviate!_ We have managed to persuade the Dursleys to take a kinder view of their nephew, Harry."

He walked over to the Dursleys while McGonagall was still zoned out because of the spell. "Now, Petunia and Vernon... _Imperio! _You love Harry as though he were your own son."

Harry could not believe that Dumbledore would go so far as to obliviate his own deputy and cast an unforgivable curse on his foster family. He'd expected something, but not something this extreme _"How could he? What is he going to do next?"_ Harry's question was answered a moment later when Dumbledore leaned into the cupboard under the stairs. Desperately, Harry strengthened his mental and magical shields. He feared his shields would not hold, but he would just have to hope for the best.

"I pray that you understand one day what I am about to do, Harry. I only want you to be happy. I do not want you to remember the cruelty you have experienced here. _Obliviate!_"

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Harry slowly opened his eyes. Dumbledore had left a while ago. It had taken all his strength and magical energy to block the memory spell. He was extremely exhausted, but it was not so bad; with a little bit of rest he would be as right as rain. What was harder to overcome was the sense of total betrayal from Dumbledore. He was alone in this world now; there was no safe quarter anywhere.

It was while he was thinking of that 'cheerful' thought that an idea popped into his head. In order to make his life better, he would need to do magic. He could not do proper magic because Ministry traced magical use around muggles, and anyway he did not have a wand. He could not do a lot without a wand. Feeble sparks would not help him. Wands were made of wood filled with a magical core. His old wand had a feather from Fawkes as a core. He had a feather of Fawkes' in his possession. All he needed was a stick and some simple tools and he would be able to make his own wand. "_This wand would not be registered at the Ministry!" _He could use it to practice and make a better life for himself. He did not need Dumbledore, he would do it all on his own

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The making of his wand turned out to be a surprisingly simple task, though it took quite a while to achieve. Luckily, Harry had long ago learned the virtue of patience. It had taken him a lot of time and misfortune, but eventually he had learned it. It was too bad he had learned it the hard way. _"If only I had a little bit more patience when I left after sixth year to go after the Horcruxes,_" he thought, thinking back to some of the foolish things he had done in his inexperience.

Harry 'borrowed' a knife and a long drill bit from the rather extensive, not to mention expensive, tool collection Uncle Vernon had in the shed that stood in the back yard. The drill bit looked as though it had not been used in years; if ever. _"Which it probably was." _he thought.

Why Uncle Vernon, who did not have a handy bone in his body, from what Harry could see, had such an extensive collection of tools in his shed was quite beyond Harry. Maybe this was one of the perks of working at a drill company. Harry did not waste time thinking of this, he simply took advantage of the fact that Vernon was unlikely to miss what he had taken.

After months of searching, he also had extraordinary luck finding base wand material. Coincidentally, the same base as his old wand in his other life. He would make himself a holly and phoenix feather wand. Fate really worked in an interesting way.

Harry had been allowed outside by Uncle Vernon, who now insisted that he be called 'father'. How wise it was to let a five-year-old wander the streets was another story, but the Dursleys truly did not care. Harry knew people could fight through the imperious curse if they really wanted to. Their resistance was a testament to how much they really hated him. The only reason they stopped assaulting Harry was because he stopped doing magic in front of them; he had more important things to do than amusing himself with them. They still hit him for trivial stuff like burning the breakfast, and he still got less food than his cousin did, though they were not actively trying to starve him anymore.

Harry roamed the streets, preferring the fresh air to the stuffy inside of his cupboard. Harry even visited the park he'd used to haunt after Sirius' death, but it had been too painful to spend a long time there. Although it had happened a long time ago, the memories still hurt, and that place seemed to bring it all back. These feelings were bad enough to deal with in his dreams, he did not want to experience them now; the pain was still too real.

Ironically, in that sad place, he finally found a stick that was suitable to make a wand. A big old holly bush stood a little ways from the swing set. Harry could not remember it being there in his other life but reckoned it must have been cut down before his first visit in his other life.

He had a very difficult time getting a straight piece. Harry's rotten luck struck again, the bush had a Bowtrucle infestation. He just had to fight off the stick-like creatures because he did not have any wood lice to offer to them, and he had no idea where he could find some.

Finally, he found a small piece of a particularly straight branch about thirty centimetres long, which he had quickly tucked into his trousers, hiding it.

He had minor scrapes on his hands and face, but he did not care. He finally had everything he needed to make his wand.

It took Harry two weeks to whittle the branch into a wand about twenty-five centimetres long. It took so long because he could only work between all his chores inside and outside the house. Harry had hoped that they would not give him chores anymore, but apparently the curse was not that strong. Basically things were pretty much the same as it had been in his other life. After he shaped the wand, he bore a straight hole through the length of the stick. This task initially seemed easy, but was actually much harder to achieve. He also had to do it all by hand, so it made things more difficult. The drill bit kept slipping, or sometimes got stuck. The whole process took a lot longer than Harry had planned.

Finally, after all his hard work, he inserted the phoenix feather into the hole, then he sealed the opening at the end with a little plug he'd carved out of a bit of leftover wood. Some furniture wax that he normally used to polish the dining table and chairs gave the wand a warm, satin glow, a lovely light golden-brown that he thought was quite beautiful.

After a lot of time and hard work, he was finally holding the finished wand in his hand. Harry could feel an anxious excitement overcome him. _"This is it, my ticket to a better future."_

He really hoped he had done it correctly, he had never learned how real wand makers made wands. This was really one big experiment to him. That his future depended on the success of this trial was not a comforting thought. Unfortunately, for some unexplainable reason, it did not feel right in his hand. Harry expected a warm feeling, or a slight vibration, but nothing happened. He could not 'connect' with the magic. The wand felt just like any old stick of wood.

Harry was immensely disappointed; all his hard work… all his hopes… everything had been in vain. A little part of him still kept hoping. _"Maybe my magical core has not yet sufficiently developed to 'bond' properly with a wand. I'm only five now, I'm not supposed to get a wand before I turn eleven."_ He would just have to wait and see. Harry could not help thinking how things could be if his wand had worked. _"Six years, that is how much of an advantage I would have had above my peers; well, not counting my previous life,"_ he thought, not even contemplating all the things he could have done to improve his home life. These thoughts would drive him insane. He had learned a long time ago not to play the 'what if' game. The problem was that it was so hard to remember things like that sometimes. _"I just got to get the damn thing to work!"_ He would simply have to try, and if he did not succeed, he would try some of the projection techniques that he had learned about as part of his advanced training. That would allow him to use any wand, even if it was not compatible. _"Time in the French barracks sure wasn't a waste."_ Harry thought ironically.

A knock on the cupboard door interrupted his thoughts, and he immediately tucked the wand beneath his mattress. Dudley was calling him. Harry sometimes really got annoyed with his cousin. Harry did not however, allow Dudley to push him around this time. He'd had enough of that in his last life.

Until he got the wand to work, life would have to go its' normal course; for now he would remain the little freak in the cupboard…

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A/n 1: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, let me know what you think, I love feedback. _**So review!!!**_

**A/n 2: I originally started this story as a dare from my sister. She wanted to see if I could write an original story using parts of different fics. I wasn't allowed to write my own stuff. As you can see, I failed miserably; but I liked the concept I came up with and decided to write the story anyway. I give credit to **_**Olafr**_** for using some of his ideas. Thanks for giving me consent to use your work. I will also be using **_**"Nightmares of futures past"**_** later on. So don't send me a message telling me I used it. I give full credit to the original writers.**

**_Amberile B-)_**


	3. A new school, a new World

**Fight against Fate** by _Amberile_

_Summary_: In a freak accident, during the ultimate battle, 21 year old Harry is sent back through time and space to that fateful day on Halloween. This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is now in. A world of alternative magic, magical creatures and unexpected friends.

Disclaimer:

_There once was girl with an addiction,_

_she could not stop writing fanfiction._

_She was not paid,_

_so all she could say;_

_Please lawyers stay away._

If you could not figure out from this lame rhyme this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I also give credit to _Olafr_ for using some of his ideas.I will also be using _"Nightmares of futures past"_ later on in this story, so credit to _S'TarKan._

Thanks to _The-Resident _for help with editing this chapter.

_Thanks for __**FairyMei33**__ for revising this chapter._

**Chapter 2 A new school, a new World. **

Harry sat, staring at his wand in the cupboard under the stairs. The years of handling it had worn down most of the sharp edges from his unskilled whittling and it was now almost as smooth as a real wand should be. The handle of the wand had darkened because of the constant use. Harry knew real wands had spells and wards on them to protect against little scrapes and bumps that occurred in every day use.

He had eventually, after a lot of trying, gotten the wand to work. It had taken him seven months, not to mention ten secret visits to the local library to remind himself about meditation and visualisation techniques. Initially he did not think it would be of any use. _"What do muggles know about magical use?"_ But at that time, he was desperate enough to try anything.

The first time he went, the librarian had thought he was lost. What would a five year old be doing at a library all by himself? She was ever so surprised when he asked how to check out a book. She then, rather humoringly, led him to the children's section where the picture books were.

"If you don't mind, I would rather read than watch pictures," he tried to say politely.

"Sorry dear; you looked too young to be in school," she replied pleasantly, though slightly confusedly.

"I'm not in school; I'm only five," Harry answered, grinning to himself at his cleverness, even as the adult part of his mind groaned at the annoying childishness of the statement. He sometimes could not resist toying with the people around him. Being five was rather boring and he often got frustrated with this constraining situation. This was frequently his only source of amusement.

"Ok dear; I'll leave you to find your own books," the flustered librarian answered.

"_Oh Hermione, would have been proud of me," _he thought, missing his friend. After she had died, there had been no one to do the research. He'd never realized how valuable her stream of non-stop information actually was until it was gone. He'd then had to do all the work, as Ron was too distraught after her loss and could not even look at a book without crying. He had really loved his wife. Neville was too busy helping the healers to spend time doing research.

When Harry went up front with the books he required, she only looked at him suspiciously and asked, "Are you sure you want these, this is very difficult material."

He just nodded, straining under the weight of the books. After those initial visits to make his wand work, he became a regular visitor to the library. He started to read up on Psychology in the hopes of solving his dream and sleep problems; from there he moved on to Philosophy, where he realized with great surprise that he actually quite liked reading and learning a lot. His casual foray into history also proved to be enlightening. Muggles had some really impressive war strategies that he could use if a war ever broke out in this time line. After that, he started studying different sciences and maths. It was astounding to discover the link between chemistry and potions. With his new knowledge, he could finally understand some of the things Hermione had tried to explain to him in Arithmancy. He could not help but wonder why the wizards never taught this stuff to their students; it would have made learning so much easier.

In the time that he'd tried making his wand work, he decided to try magic that did not require a wand. He needed a backup plan in case things did not work out. He knew he could become an Animagus, he was a Golden Griffin in his other life, but he did not know if his body was ready for that yet. It was while he was trying to test if he could train himself to do this again, that he discovered with great surprise that he was a metamorphmagus. _"Well that would explain how my hair grew back when aunt Petunia cut it in my other live,"_ he thought with a smile. _"If only Tonks could see me now!" _However, his transformations were, in a way, flawed. No matter what he did, he always kept his scar. After his discovery, he had to practise this talent daily because he could not keep a change for an extended period at a time. He also had a problem changing more than one characteristic at a time. Like everything, he had to develop it and try to stabilise it as his magical core matured.

At last, after he had almost completely lost all hope, he managed to get a response out of the wand. At first he could not control it at all, but with time, he managed to produce reliable, controllable magic with his wand.

It had taken him a long time and a lot practise to develop his magical core. It was only this year that he had managed to build up his power to anything even remotely like it had been before…

Before the unexplainable accident that had reset the Universe. "_Or whatever damn thing had happened."_ Things were different, this time. Extremely different!

Harry had definitely not had knowledge about magic last time. The first time, the cupboard under the stairs had been a dusty prison. Not the luxurious room he had created. It was now almost the size of the Gryffindor common room. Last time, he had been mistreated, abused, and neglected. He had been a victim.

Now though, he had been able to use his magic to make a better life for himself. Harry had studied tings he'd never thought he would have the opportunity, or the will, to do before. He'd discovered he had so much more talent and potential than he ever would have guessed; the discovery of his wandless magic was only the beginning.

After some experimenting, Harry managed to cast a congeniality charm on all three Dursleys. He had to renew it every day because it wore off, sometimes even more, but this was a lot more effective than the Imperius Curse Dumbledore cast on them. Harry regretted the necessity – his actions were neither legal, nor ethical – but he knew what waited for him in the future. He could not afford wasting time and energy being downtrodden and victimised. His dreams were bad enough; he did not need it in waking. He knew he must focus on preparing for the day he would rejoin the wizarding world and eventually face Voldemort again.

In retrospect, though, perhaps it had been a case of the ends truly justifying the means. _"I hate how much that sounds like Dumbledore," _he though morosely, but in the end, the four of them formed a happy family... _well, kind of_. Even if they were not a loving family as such, things were shared around more. Dudley was still a little spoiled, but he was not as fat as he had been. He had the same friends as the last time, but they had a nicer attitude overall and did not gang up on Harry; well, that had also a lot to do with the notice-me-not charm he put on himself. Aunt Petunia worked with the local charity, and was generally happy with her role in the community. Okay, she only did it to be noticed and liked by the neighbours; but still, she did help people, even if her intentions were shallow. Vernon also benefited from Harry's spell. He was more successful than the previous time; his friendlier manner meant he made fewer enemies in the work place.

Harry's qualms about the ethicalness of his deed was placated by the results he experienced daily. Through this simple, though slightly illegal act, he improved his own and his family's living conditions drastically. They were generally happier and more successful. The best result of his actions was that he was properly fed now and was not abused any more. His achievements at school was not suppressed either, in fact he did exceptionally well. It seemed that the absence of negative influences did him wonders.

Still, the memories of his past haunted him; he just could not forget how the Dursleys had treated him in his other life. Knowing they were only relatively nice to him because he had bewitched them also did not help his feelings towards them.

One thing that annoyed him though, was school. While Harry did really well, he did sometimes feel that muggle school was a colossal waste of time, but he knew he had to go. He did not want to raise suspicions about himself. Overall, it was a much happier existence, so he did not care about it too much.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry's annoyance with school was solved in a totally unexpected way. It was almost the end of first grade, and as usual, he was bored out of his scull. If he had to sing his abc's one more time, he would puke. Today they were supposed to read in class; he had read the prescribed book ages ago. _"How long can it take to read a ten page book about a fluffy bunny?"_ Now he was busy reading Shakespeare. He really did not get why Hermione made such a fuss about it. The portrayal of the witches in the play he was reading was very wrong. _"How could she like such a stereotypical story?"_

He got so involved with his reading that he did not notice that his teacher was watching him. All year, she had observed the strange raven-haired boy. He usually stayed by himself and always had a book in his hand, generally material _way_ above his age. She was quite convinced that he was a very gifted student. She knew that Harry would do better in a school with other smart kids like himself. What bothered her was that he lacked the arrogance most smart kids had; he seemed to want to draw as little attention as possible. He just sat at his desk reading his books with a sad smile. The bell rang, signaling the end of the day and bringing her out of her musings.

"Harry, could you please wait a moment after class?"

Harry nodded his head, wondering what he'd done wrong now. Finishing packing his stuff, he walked up to the teacher's desk.

"I… mmm… sorry if I did something wrong, I will not do it again."

"No dear, you did nothing wrong," she smiled at him.

"Oh, I thought you were angry because I didn't pay attention in class or something like that."

"Harry, would you be interested in taking an aptitude test? Maybe something, that could put you in another grade. If you do well enough, you could even transfer to another school. You could be with people that are as smart as you are, instead of spending time with those below your level."

Harry just shook is head in disbelief. "But I am not smart at all; anyway, my aunt would never pay for a special school."

"Private schools usually have scholarships for bright kids that cannot afford the tuition."

"Er… ok," Harry answered hesitantly. _"Who in their right mind would think I was smart? I have gotten a lot of people killed with my stupidity," _he thought as he left the classroom.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next day, Harry was called out of his class just after lunchtime and taken to a room in the administrative building of the school. The room was mostly empty. The walls were completely white, and the tile floor was black. All it contained was two chairs, a desk with a pencil, a few pieces of paper on it, and a man in a gray suit…

"_Talk about a dull intimidating room, if I didn't know better I would fear an interrogation right now."_

"Come in, Mr. Potter," the man in the gray suit said friendly. "I'm Mr. Blake; I'm from the local Department of Education. From what I hear, you're quite the genius."

Harry laughed. "Hardly; I can't imagine what would give anyone that idea."

"We'll see. Sit down, and let's get started," the man said, gesturing at the desk.

He proceeded to explain the test and how it should be filled in. He also explained the reasons for taking the test and what it was measuring.

Harry picked up the pencil and began after scanning over the test once. He answered the questions in about an hour without too much of a problem. Harry had expected something more difficult, but it contained mostly math and language questions and strange picture games. This was the first time Harry had ever taken such a test; there were not things like this in the wizarding world. He did not know what to expect, as he had no experience to guide him.

Mr. Blake was smiling at him. _"I guess I must have done well, bet he would not be smiling like that if he knew I am really an almost thirty year old stuck in a kid's body."_

"We will pass the results along to your teacher after we run these through the office. We should know the results in a few weeks."

"Thank you Mr. Blake," Harry replied. He still did not know where this new development would lead.

"Do not worry about it Harry. It's my job."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

At the start of the next academic year, Harry would be going to Wilbert Academy. It was apparently a very exclusive school. Initially his guardians threw a fit when they found out about it, but seeing as they would not have to pay for it they finally agreed to let him go. But Harry had to use three cheering charms to put them in a good enough mood to fill in the forms.

Harry did not know what to expect, but reckoned if he learned anything there that he would not learn at his old school, it would not be a total waste of time. Until then, he just went on with his normal routine of reading and practicing his magic. His metamorphing was coming along nicely, but he still had not managed to completely change the color of his hair. He had given up on attempting hiding his scar; it just did not work. Another area that he had been working on, but had not had any success in, was his Animagus transformation. He knew exactly what to do, but it just was not happening. He would have to wait for his magical core to grow stronger and stabilize.

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It was 4:45 in the morning the first day of school. Harry was supposed to take an early train so he would be on time for school. His aunt, jealous because her little Popkin did not get into the private school, had refused to take him. She said if he was smart enough to get in, then he was smart enough to get there himself. Harry did not even bother to charm her, it would be a waste of energy and he really hated that it was sometimes necessary.

At this moment, Harry was concentrating all his magical energy on a small stone. It was a smooth round stone with a little hole in it. Harry was making a re-usable portkey to his new school. In his old body, he could whip up a portkey in seconds, but in this new body, it took an hour to focus and center his magic through meditation.

It was frustrating to have so much knowledge and memories, but be physically unable to perform and use it.

Finally, his portkey was completed. He was proud of himself; it was a very advanced spell and he'd managed it even with his limited magical ability. He lay back down on his bed to catch his breath. Using so much of his power had really drained him, but it was totally worth it.

Harry got sluggishly out of bed and dressed in his new school uniform; navy blue jacket and slacks, with a white button down shirt. He then transfigured a piece of rope into a leather strip and tied his new portkey onto it, and then he hung it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt.

He quickly went to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat and then he was off.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry appeared about a block away from school in an ally. He had studied maps of the area to determine the best portkey site. It was still early and he leisurely strolled to the school. For some strange reason he was excited, he did not know why, it was just a school and he was probably going to be just as bored here as at the other school, but still, he had a feeling that something good was about to happen.

Harry was surprised to see the school; it was huge. It was nothing like the Hogwarts castle, but it had a certain intimidating quality. He had no idea were to go. There were parents escorting their children everywhere. Harry felt a twinge of regret in his heart; even after all these years, he still missed the fact that he would never experience a goodbye kiss from his mother.

Harry walked through the gates hesitantly; he saw that most of the new students and their parents went to a counter, signed in, and then received a nametag and instructions for where to go. He got into line, hoping he was at the right place.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Entering his new class, Harry felt his heart leap, a joyous tremble that one of the people he had missed most in the world was once again with him. Sitting there, absorbed in a book was Hermione. _She was here and she was alive. Alive!_ He had not thought how it would feel to meet his once friend, the people that he'd seen die; he would have to prepare himself better for the next time, if he wanted to keep up his act. He could not help the brilliant smile he gave as he stepped forward into the class. He went straight to the open seat next to Hermione.

"Hello, I'm Harry," he said, "Harry Potter." He was delighted when Hermione looked up from her book and smiled back, somewhat hesitantly.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said clearly, in a round tone. "Charmed."

Harry very much wanted to talk to her, but he was not quite sure how to begin the conversation. "_What should you say to a person that died saving your life? Meetings and beginnings are such delicate matters; I cannot afford to mess this up. It would have been nice to be more prepared."_

After some time of silence, Hermione surprised Harry by speaking in that forthright manner of hers.

"Are you also new here?"

"Yeah, this guy came to my old school and I did a test and now I'm here."

"Me too; I think they put all the new second grade students in this class so it would be easier to explain how things work here, to us."

"I suppose…" Harry answered. He was looking for a way to keep the conversation going.

"What are you reading, is it any good?"

"It is a storybook about a witch; I wish I could do magic, it would be wonderful."

Harry almost laughed aloud, if she only knew… luckily, he managed to keep his composure, she would be very insulted if he laughed at her. "Who knows? Maybe you're a very powerful witch, but you just haven't discovered your power yet. Anything is possible you know."

"You're silly," she laughed, glad that he did not ridicule her for her fantasy like the kids from her other school.

"I'm not silly, I'm a powerful wizard and I know a strong, brilliant witch when I see one," he said with a mock serious tone of voice. It was hard for him to interact with Hermione like this, but he knew he had to. She would not understand the truth, and he really did not plan to tell anyone the truth anyway.

"Ok, Lord Wizard; what is my special power?" Hermione mocked back.

Harry almost cringed at being called Lord Wizard; it reminded him too much of Voldemort, but he could not show any of those emotions. Luckily, he was saved from responding as their teacher, a plump woman with blond hair, walked into the room.

"Welcome to Wilbert Academy. Today is an orientation day for all new students; you will be shown around the school to familiarize you with all the facilities. We will also help you chose the extra activities you want to take. All students must choose at least two supplementary courses. Preferably, one in the arts and another of a more physical nature. You must also take an extra language class."

Throughout the teacher's speech, Harry observed Hermione; she was practically jumping in her seat at the mention of extra classes.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day together. It was a strange, but wonderful feeling for Harry to be with her again. The only bad moment of the day was when school came out and all of the parents came to pick up their kids. Harry waited with Hermione until her mother came.

"Isn't your mommy getting you?" Hermione suddenly asked when she realised there was nobody to get her new friend. Harry looked at her, his smile quelled, and shook his head.

"No," he answered. "I live with my 'dear' Aunt and Uncle. My parents were killed when I was still very young."

Hermione looked taken aback, almost aghast. "I'm sorry," she said. Harry shook his head.

"That's okay. It's not like I remember them," he said, trying not to think of what he used to see near dementors; trying to forget that cursed night in the graveyard. He did not want to think what he would see now if a dementor got near him. Too many things had happened to him, things nobody should ever live through. On the other hand, at the end of the war, dementors did not have a big effect on him anymore; he did not have any happiness left for them to suck out. But he had hope now, so maybe they would have an effect on him again. He really did not want to find out.

Hermione looked very sad and unsure of what to say.

"Don't be sad Hermione, I am used to it, and I can't change things so there's really no use to be bothered by it."

She just nodded. Harry got a warm feeling in his heart at seeing Hermione's concern; she only knew him for a day and already cared about him.

"Harry, how are you going to get home if nobody picks you up?"

"Do not worry, I'll be taking the train back home," he answered while fingering the portkey around his neck.

"Oh, ok," she answered, unsure, but she really could do nothing about her new friends' transportation arrangements.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thinking back on his day, it turned out relatively good. Harry realized that the school had more to offer than he had imagined. He'd had a bit of difficulty choosing his classes. In his other life, he'd never had the opportunity to do any of the things his new school offered. Harry decided that he would take more than the mandatory two activities. He wanted to expand on his experiences. Up until this point, everything was battle oriented; but he decided that, for once in his life, he wanted to live and enjoy it. This was a grace period before he went back to Hogwarts and his dangerous life.

Hermione and he put their heads together to pick their classes. As their extra language class, Harry convinced Hermione to take Latin with him; it would be very valuable once they got to Hogwarts were most of the spells were in that language.

Harry also signed up for extra music and art classes. Hermione said she would join him in music class but she really did not like art, it took to much time and she thought it was time she could better spend reading.

He wanted to learn how to play guitar and piano. Hermione would be learning to play the violin. Harry never knew she could play in his other life. He stared to wonder how well he really knew his friends. He made a pact with himself that he would make a bigger effort to get to know his friends better this time around.

As his physical activity, he signed up for fencing and gymnastics. Hermione could not decide what to take, as she was not a physically orientated person and in the end joined Harry in gymnastics so she could be with her new friend. Harry wondered which classes she took in his other life, as he was not there to influence her decisions. It really did not matter, he was just curious.

It turned out that they would still have all the other normal subjects they would have had in any other school, the classes would just be at a more advanced level.

Harry knew he would still probably be a little bored, but at least he had Hermione as company and learning new skills to look forwards to.

He sat on his bed for a while, contemplating his day before he cleared his mind and strengthened his Occlumency shields. When he was done, he went to sleep; tomorrow would be an interesting day filled with his new classes.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Just like the day before, Harry took his permanent portkey to his new school. He could not wait to see Hermione again. He was also excited to begin learning his new supplementary classes. Harry knew his gymnastics class would go a long way to get him in shape and help with his agility. That was very important in a dual, especially to doge curses. He was amazed looking in the mirror one day and realizing that he was taller now than what he was at the same age in his old life. He could not believe what a huge impact better nutrition had on his growth. _"I won't be that bloody skinny weed come first year," _he smiled. His fencing class would also help. Although it was a muggle sport, most pure blood families had magical weapons and knew how to use them. Harry wanted to know how to defend himself better this time around. The little bit he knew had been hastily taught to him, and he did not have any form or technique. _"Who knew muggle school could help preparing you for a magical war?"_ However, strangely enough, those two activities were not the ones Harry wanted to learn the most; he was most excited to learn something normal and, in combat terms, useless. He could not wait for his art and music classes. Those classes went almost against his self-perceived nature. Harry-Potter-the-warrior did not draw and paint or play music; he was a hard kick ass guy ready to fight at any moment. Yet in this new world, he was granted the opportunity to expand on that picture and maybe he could gain more depth.

He stopped his musings when he reach he school gate. Waiting for him was his bushy-haired friend. Harry smiled as they walked together to class, talking about what they would do during the day. It had been explained the previous day that they would have normal class until break, after that they would have an hour supplementary class, then normal class again, and the last hour of the day would be spent on their second extra class. If more than two supplementary classes were chosen, lessons would be given for an hour after school. Harry did not mind staying after school, the less time he had to spend with the Dursleys the better. The only down side was that he would have less time to practice his magic. Recently, it seemed like he had reached a plateau in his training. Harry reasoned that if he took it easy for a bit and gave his magical core time to adjust and stabilize, he would be able to advance later on. For now, he was happy to just enjoy himself in his new school, having the childhood he'd never had. He did not forget his ultimate plan, but for now, he just took it a bit slower. Things would happen, and although he would try his hardest to let it happen his way, in the end it was not all up to him.

As Harry expected, class was still incredibly boring; after an hour, he gave up pretending to pay attention and let his mind wonder. In his mind, he was going over all the spells that could be useful in a fight. At the moment, his core was not developed enough to start practicing combat magic. He reckoned if he kept his mind sharp, his body would follow eventually. _"This class is worse than Binns," _Harry thought after another hour. Finally, just as Harry wanted to scream from boredom, the bell rang, signalling recess and saving Harry's sanity.

"So Mr. Wizard, what do you want to play today?" Hermione asked as they walked to the playground.

"I don't know; I was thinking that we could just talk a bit so we could get to know each other better."

"So, what do you want to know?"

"Well... er… I do not know really, I just want to know more about you. Like your favourite book or game. Where you come from; that kind of thing."

"Ok, let's see… I do not really have a favourite book, I love almost everything. I like the colour yellow. I am an only child and my parents are dentists; your turn," she smiled.

"As you already know, I'm an orphan that lives with my aunt and uncle. My favourite colour is black. Oh, don't forget that I'm a wizard," he added with a smile.

"Harry, you are so silly! I thought that we were going to be serious?"

"I am serious; I am a wizard and you are a witch."

"Have it your way, I'll play along," Hermione laughed.

Harry had debated a long time over whether he should reveal magic to Hermione. If he could help her develop her core at an earlier stage, then she would eventually be a stronger witch and ultimately be more prepared for the war. The problem was that he could scare her away if he was not careful. He could also give some of his secrets away that he did not necessarily want to reveal. He decided to slowly make her comfortable with the idea of magic, and then wait until she performed accidental magic before explaining it all to her.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Finally, the time for Harry's first music class arrived. It turned out he and Hermione would not have this class together because they chose different instruments. He did not learn much in this first class, but he was optimistic that soon he would be able to play piano and guitar. His only problem was practicing his new instruments. There was no way in hell that the Dursleys would spend money on buying Harry a piano, no matter how strong the cheering charm. He had also not advanced far enough in his magic to try to transfigure or conjure one. That meant an even longer time staying after school so that he could practice.

Harry also liked his new gymnastics class; the coach was some Russian lady that was channelling the spirit of a drill sergeant. Almost all the kids were afraid of her, but, compared to training with Moody, she was really a sweet woman. Harry actually liked the discipline and her strict mannerism. She was only satisfied with perfection. That suited Harry just fine; he did not have time to waste. He wanted to learn new skills and be able to use them to their fullest.

It was a big surprise for Harry to learn that he was the only person his age to take up fencing. That meant that he had an hour of intense individual training every other day after school. The teacher did not want to teach him along with all the bigger kids; he said until Harry knew the basics, he would only get hurt. He was quite surprised at what Harry could already do, especially when Harry told him it was a first time experience for him. Which it was technically in this life, according to Harry, his old life did not count and he should stop feeling guilty about things that were lies-but-technically-true, if only this life were considered. Something he read in one of the many philosophy books helped him a little bit with this concept. It all came down to relativity, or rather his interpretation of that theory anyway. His situation was unique in so many ways, he did not even want to contemplate it. Harry was very pleased with the skill of his teacher and knew he would learn a lot from him.

The strangest experience at Harry's new school was on his third day in his first art lesson after school. The moment he entered the door he could feel something. He did not know what it was; it was strange, it felt like magical energy, but at the same time completely different. It was like nothing he had ever felt in the muggle or magical world before. The feeling of this strange power was almost overwhelming. He froze in the door, trying to look for the source of the power, but it was emanating from all over the room.

"Move along Potter, we don't have all day," said a snooty girl named Alice, as she pushed him into the classroom and walked past him to a desk.

The further into the room he got, the greater the oppressive nature of this strange power got. So he opted for a seat as close to the door as possible. _"Constant Vigilance,"_ screamed through his head, telling him to get out of there, but he knew he could not; he had a class to attend. He would monitor the room and try to understand this strange power and its source.

He looked round the room, taking in his surroundings. The place almost reminded him of his old divination classroom; crystals of every imaginable colour was placed around the room, some were even hanging from the roof on pieces of fish line. Harry recognised the smell of incense burning. Easels and canvases were standing around a table with a pot on it. Apparently, the subject they would be drawing today after they finished their theory part of today's lesson.

A tall woman with long, sleek black hair in a deep purple velvet dress stood in the front of the room surveying her class. There were ten kids in her class, all of them sitting close to her in the first two rows, except for a dark haired boy, which sat by the door at the back of the class. At this moment, his eyes were closed and he was busy rubbing his temples with his thumbs.

As hard as Harry tried to ignore the weird feeling, it just got worse the longer he stayed in the room. His senses were overwhelmed with the power and not even his Occlumency could block it out. He knew he had to get out of that room, or he would drown in that strange magical power. He stood up and ran for the door not even bothering to get his stuff. The moment he was outside the door, the power was gone. He sagged against the wall breathing heavily. Harry did not know what was in there, but he knew he sure as hell did not want to go back in there. As much as he wanted to learn how to paint, he knew he would be dropping the class first thing come morning. _"Why on earth was I getting that feeling in a muggle class room?" _he almost wondered aloud. Harry was really freaked out at this moment.

A moment later, the art teacher was kneeling beside him. "Are you all right?"

Harry just nodded dumbly; he was fine now that he was outside.

"Right, let's get back to class then," she said as she got up. Harry shook his head.

"I can't go back in there, the power is too much," Harry really did not know how to explain this to his muggle teacher. All he knew was that he could not go back in there.

"What do you mean young man?" she asked friendly, but also curiously.

"I don't know, there is something weird in there. It is so powerful, it's overwhelming. It is coming from everywhere in the room," Harry answered knowing that she would probably think he was insane.

"Oh, I understand now. You're a very sensitive person; in tuned with your surroundings," she said with a smile. "You have a wonderful gift."

Harry just looked at her very confused. "I don't understand, what happened in there?"

"Come back tomorrow at break-time and wait for me outside the class. Then I will explain everything to you. I am sorry it cannot be now, but I have a class to give. Obviously, you cannot come back in at this moment, so you are excused for now."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was one confused person as he lay on his bed, contemplating the events of the day. _"Is my new teacher a witch?" _he wondered. _"What would it mean to me?"_ he really did not know. He was also bothered by what she said, he had never seen himself as a sensitive person; he saw that as a weakness, especially in a war. He was a man of action. Yet today, he'd run away from a room, just because he felt a little claustrophobic. _"Why is nothing ever simple in my life? I can't even go to a muggle school without discovering some unknown magical power."_ Harry started hitting the back of his head against the wall he was propped up against. _"Why, why, why?"_ he could gain no answers.

That night, sleep eluded him and, in the short hour he managed to sleep, his dreams were once again filled with the horrors of his past life. He awoke screaming at around four in the morning; he was shivering from the events he'd just lived through again. _"When will it stop? Will it ever stop?"_ he thought as a stray tear rolled down his cheek, he wiped it away angrily. Harry Potter never cried, in the war there was no time for it and now Harry did not permit himself that luxury. He knew that once he started to cry, he would never stop and he would descend into a depression where he would wallow in the sorrow over the loss of all the people that he loved. In his other life, he felt responsible for every person that Voldemort and his Death Eaters killed because he was too weak to do something about it. He knew it would be the same in this life also and he did not know if he had the strength to live through something like that again. _"Let's hope it doesn't come to it again. I'll make sure of it." _Too awake to get back to sleep, Harry worked a bit on his wandless magic.

Harry usually worked on his magic at night. None of the books he had read so far could help him with his sleeping problem. He was used to getting only a few hours a night, therefore he had lots of time to practice his magic.

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"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione asked as they walked down the corridor at recess.

"Sorry Hermione, but I have to see Mrs. De Villiers, my new art teacher. I will catch up to you in class; scope out the library while I am gone, then you can tell me about all the cool books when I get back.

Hermione was slightly annoyed with her new friend; since she'd met him, she did not like being alone, like she was in her old school. Harry was her first, and only, friend she'd ever had. Well, at least he did not ditch her for a silly reason and she really did want to get acquainted with the library. She smiled at that thought and went straight to it.

Meanwhile, Harry walked to his art class. He waited patiently outside the room. He had no desire to look if his teacher was inside. _"So much for Gryffindor courage,"_ Harry thought bitterly.

He did not have to wait long for his teacher to come out of her class. "Greetings Mr. Potter. Come in, it is safe now."

Harry was very hesitant to follow her inside, but gave in after a moment of thought. He was always a sucker for a mystery, and he needed answers. He was surprised to feel nothing when he entered the room.

"Wha..?" he said as he looked around the room.

"Excuse me I did not quite catch that," the teacher asked.

"The feeling, the power is gone. How did you do that?" Harry asked amazed, grateful he did not feel the oppression any more.

"I am so sorry for yesterday Harry. Most people are not in tune enough to feel the energy of my crystals. You see, I am somewhat a fanatic in alternative forms of healing. In my spare time, I study the power of the crystals; I have also experimented with aromatherapy and even colour therapy. That is why my class is so colourful and I burn incense. I found that it calms most people and allows them to be at their most creative because they don't shield themselves that much in here."

"So it was your crystals giving of all that energy?" Harry said looking around again. "And I can't feel them now because you have covered them all up."

She nodded. "You see every crystal has a unique property, and if they are used correctly, the results can be wonderful."

Harry found what he heard fascinating. This was an obscure branch of magic, completely overlooked by the wizarding world.

"What are we going to do about my problem? Being in your class, you can't keep your crystals covered up the whole time, it would negate the positive effects it has on your other students?"

"I have a temporary solution to your problem," she said while taking something out of her pocket. "This is a pure white crystal, it should absorb the energies the other crystals emit. If you wear this around your neck in my class, you should be able to get along just fine. Though, I would rather teach you how to use the different crystals; if you understand them better and get used to their energies, you will not have a problem later on if you do not have a white crystal."

Harry was amazed that she was willing to teach him this new form of magic. Things turned out better than he could ever have imagined.

"Thank you so much."

"It's no problem at all; you have an amazing gift. I feel it is my duty to help you develop it."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was a few weeks since the start of school and things were starting to fall into a comfortable pattern. Every Friday after school Harry, would meet with De Villiers. He had learned a great deal about the crystals, their power, use, and meaning. Things, for once, were going great for Harry Potter. Hermione and he were fast becoming the best of friends. Harry liked his new school very much. He was still bored to tears in the classes themselves, but he spent every other free moment either practicing his music, drawing, or reading with Hermione. These days he spent almost no time at the Dursleys, except in the evenings and on the weekends.

He was still waiting for Hermione to show the first sings of magic, but he did not want to force things. At the moment he made sure that most of the conversations they had, and books they read together were about "fantasy" creatures like centaurs, fairies and witches. They even sometimes talked about what they would do if they could do magic. Hermione thought Harry was the person with the biggest imagination she had ever met.

He was making good progress in his gymnastics and fencing classes and he was sure he would be in great shape at the end of the year. Harry Potter would never be the small weak kid he was in his other life.

Actually, the only time when it was not going absolutely brilliant was at night when he tried to sleep. Harry had made peace that he was an insomniac and that would probably not change in the near future. The up side was that he had lots of time to practice magic.

Harry still had not attempted to make contact with the magical world; he thought it was best to wait until he got his Hogwarts letter. He had another mission in mind, concerning his magical development. His discovery of Crystal magic made him wonder if there were other obscure branches of magic he did not know about. He wanted to find out. Only problem was, he did not know how to find out. Finally, he decided to ask Mrs. De Villiers if she knew of other magical forms; from the first time he met here he wondered if she was a witch. He just did not know how to broach the subject. Once again, he would have to gather his Gryffindor courage and ask.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Mrs De Villiers was walking through her class, inspecting the work of her students. They were supposed to be drawing self-portraits. Most of the pictures were not that great, after all it was only second graders that were painting. She saw potential in a few of her students, but she doubted if any of them would be the next great artist. Except maybe for the shy dark haired boy that sat away from everybody else at the door. Although the crystal she gave him negated most of her crystals effects, he still did not feel comfortable coming any deeper into the class. As she watched him work, she once again wanted to cry. His work seemed to have that effect on her; it was always filled with unexplained emotions. His green eyes, too intently focused on his work, noticing nothing around him. Most of this young students' work was abstract and very dark in nature. He seemed to stay away from bright colours, usually using black, dark green and red. Today's picture was no different. Where all of her other students were drawing their own faces, Harry's was a complicated clash of green and red in a dark pool of confusion and dirty colours. She wondered what deep sorrows he was hiding from the world. She knew that no one who had not experienced trauma of some nature would ever create things of this nature. She knew the subconscious had a way of expressing itself through art. This was not the first time she had wondered about it. He seemed to be a happy, enthusiastic person but his eyes and his art gave him away.

She was getting to know him better through their private lessons. She was amazed at how quickly he grasped the concepts. It had taken her years to figure out some of those things. He was a natural. She hoped that, as they got to know each other better, he would start to trust her and maybe, he would tell her if she asked. She knew he would never volunteer information, especially if he did not feel safe. She had considered talking to the school counsellor about him, but she was afraid Harry would see it as a betrayal. For now, she would just observe him more closely and look for more conclusive signs that something was wrong.

The hour was up and most of the kids had already packed up and left, except for the topic of her musings. He was slowly approaching her and making sure that everyone left before he started to speak.

"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked unsure.

"Any time; you know my door is always open to you," she answered in a reassuring voice. She wondered if maybe he would open up to her a bit and tell her something that would explain some of her questions about him.

"Ok… well… I don't know how to ask this tactfully so here goes: are you a witch?"

"Oh, Harry; do I look that mean to you?" she laughed, confused at the question.

"No, I didn't mean that stupid stereotypical portrayal of old mean hags. I mean an actual user of magical power," Harry explained.

"Harry, I know you have a very huge imagination, but magic and witches don't really exist."

"Then I guess I was wrong; you're just another muggle. I'm sorry," he said as he turned to walk out of the room, but he hesitated for a second and turned around again. "It's just so strange. You use magic every day and you don't even realize it."

"What are you talking about? Why did you call me a muggle and why do you think I am performing magic?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you, there are laws against revealing magic to non-magical people. But I really trust you, and I know you wouldn't tell anyone what I am about to tell you. I need your help and it can only happen if you know what I am."

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

"I am a wizard. I called you a muggle because that is what our kind call people without magic. I thought you were a witch because you are actually performing very powerful magic with your crystals."

"Harry, this is not a joke; I thought you wanted to talk about something serious with me. There is no such thing as magic."

"I am serious; there is a whole hidden magical civilization. Will you believe me if I demonstrate?"

She took a moment to consider, after awhile her curiosity got the better of her and she nodded.

"As I said, I can get in a lot of trouble by doing what I am about to do. You must promise me that this will remain our secret," as he said that, colourful sparks formed at his fingertips, and then a paintbrush flew through the air and into his hand. "I can do a lot more if I use my wand, but I am afraid someone will notice it."

Mrs De Villiers just stood open mouthed. "So it is true? Everything you said, all the stories I heard while I was doing my research? Magic really exists. How did you do it? Can you also show me how?"

"Yes; it does exist, and you actually know how to use some form of magic. Unfortunately, I cannot teach you how to do normal magic. You have to be born with it."

She looked disappointed, but still mystified by all that she just found out. "Are there other forms of magic that I will be able to do?"

"That is actually what I was hoping you would help me with. I wanted to know if there were other alternative forms of magic."

"I don't know Harry, but I think I can help you find out. I know some people, maybe they can help us."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

And so Harry's discovery of a different magical world began. A world that no one even knew existed. The wizards were too blind to acknowledge it, and the actual users of it did not realize what they were doing. Harry was determined to find and learn everything there was to learn of this obscure world.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/n Thanks a lot to all the positive reviews I got, it made me excited to write this next chapter.

James-Padfoot; hpnut1; griffindorlioness81088; insanityismytrademark; animeflunky; Light of the Demons; petites sorcieres; trebsc; jabarber69; viola20; FroBoy

I have no clue how the British educational system works, if I got it wrong I apologize.

_**I give credit to Olafr for using some of his ideas. Thanks for giving me consent to use your work.**_

**Please review** I just _love_ feedback.

_**Amberile B-)**_


	4. Discovering the arts

**Fight against Fate **

Summary: In a freak accident, during the ultimate battle, 21 year old Harry is sent back through time and space to that fateful day on Halloween. This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is now in. A world of alternative magic, magical creatures and unexpected friends.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**I give credit to Olafr for using some of his ideas. Thanks for giving me consent to use your work.**

A/N: A huge thank you to my new Beta Weasel Debater. You're the best!!!!

_**Thanks for **_**FairyMei33,**_** for revising this chapter.B-)**_

**Chapter 3 Discovering the arts**

It had been a year since Harry acceptation at Wilbert Academy. In the year, Harry had learned many things about magic and himself.

Initially, it was a bit awkward between Harry and Mrs. De Villiers after revealed himself as a wizard but they soon got over it as they worked on discovering new interesting forms of magic.

Harry now had a basic knowledge of Crystal Magic, Herbal Healing, Rune Magic, Candle Focusing and Tune Magic. Harry found Tune Magic the most interesting. It was doing enchantments with the aid of music. Different notes, tunes and instruments were used for different effects. Harry wondered if Dumbledore knew of this form of magic; he could vaguely remember him saying something about music being a magic beyond what they taught at Hogwarts.

In order to be able to perform some of that magic, Harry also started to learn how to play the flute. He would never have guessed that he was so musically talented. He had no trouble learning how to play the piano, guitar or flute. His music teacher was very pleased with him. Harry did not think much of the praise he got from her. Anyone would be fairly good if they spent as much time practicing as he did. He never really wanted to go home after school and his extra classes; so he usually practiced for two hours every day to spend more time away from home.

Rune magic was also very interesting. It would be of no use in a combat situation, but it would be extremely useful in setting up protective wards that most wizards would be unable to break as it worked on a totally different concept as standard wizard wards.

Initially, Harry thought herbal healing was just a muggle version of Herbology and potions. And in some ways, it was, but not really. The plants that were used were not magical at all; the magic was in the combining of different elements and forming something that was uniquely magical. And if these elements were used in conjunction with the correct crystals, the results were astounding.

Candle magic was another interesting branch, it was not a very strong magic, and muggles usually used it in cult rituals, but Harry could see the potential of it when combined with actual wizarding rituals. Harry knew it would especially enhance dark magic. He would have to find a way of using it without the evil side finding out about it. He really did not want to add to their power.

In about the middle of the year, Hermione joined them in their quest of discovery after she had found her own magic. Harry thought back to that day with a smile.

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It was recess and Harry was sitting under a tree reading by himself. Hermione had told him that she needed to get something she had forgotten in the library. Hermione thought it would be funny to sneak up on Harry and surprise him. She did not know that that was a bad idea. Harry still reacted forcefully when he perceived danger. His reactions were honed by years of war and he sometimes could not help how he reacted, as his survival instincts were normally on overdrive.

The moment she jumped around the tree, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground. This unexpected action scared her and her magic responded by throwing Harry away from her. At first, Harry was shocked, he was breathing heavily, and her actions had triggered a flashback from his past. Then, he realized what had happened and he started to laugh.

Hermione was confused as she really did not know what had just happened. She hoped that she did not hurt her friend with whatever she had done. Her confusion deepened when Harry started to laugh.

Harry got up and walked up to her with a smile on his face. "I told you; you're a powerful witch, and that was a really impressive banishing charm."

"What…what just happened Harry?" she asked in a small voice.

"That, my dear friend, was your first accidental magic. You took your time actually doing it; I've been waiting for this to happen all year."

"You knew I could do that?"

"Yes; I told you, I'm a wizard. If you want I can teach you how to do magic. It's no fun to wait for accidents to happen."

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Would you have believed me?"

"Probably not. Does that mean all that fantasy stuff you told me about is actually real?"

"Yep, I had to get you used to the idea of magic so that you wouldn't freak out when you had your first accident."

"Oh ok…How did you find out about magic?"

"My parents were magical as well. I can remember little bits of it. My aunt does not like to talk about it, but she gave me some of my mum's old school stuff when I kept pestering her. Nothing cool like spell books, only a few magical history books and one about magical creatures." Harry's aunt actually did give him the books, what he did not mention was the three charms he had to put on her before she allowed him to keep the books that he'd found while cleaning out the basement.

"Then how did you figure it out?" Hermione asked, ever the curious person.

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice."

Hermione looked eager, clearly not afraid to do some extra work.

"Tell you what, ask your mother if you can stay after school on Friday; Mrs.De Villiers has been helping me with my magic. I don't think she would mind helping you as well."

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Harry got up from his bed after he stopped contemplating the previous year and his bushy haired friend. It was the holidays and he had nothing to do. He did not feel like practicing his magic, as that was all he had been doing for the past week and a half. After a little bit of thought, he decided to do a bit of exploring. In his other life, he never walked further than the park. This time however, there was no one trailing him under an invisibility cloak, so he was free to do as he pleased.

He wondered around aimlessly for about an hour before he got into town. He did not have any money so he would not be able to buy anything, but window-shopping was a lot more fun than sitting in his cupboard all day. While Dudley usually spent his day rotting in front of the TV, Harry did not want to spend that much time with his cousin, so he looked for alternative ways to keep himself busy.

After awhile, Harry walked past the library. He supposed he could get himself some books to stay busy. He just was not in the mood right now. He was listless; tired of all the boring bookish activities he had to content himself with. He wanted action. He almost craved it.

He had started to run around the block in the mornings to counteract this feeling and to stay in shape, but it did not seem to be enough. He wanted more. He needed more. Unfortunately, he did not know what he could do to get rid of that feeling. When he'd come back to this peacefull time, he'd prayed that he would have a life without all the action and drama. Now, it appeared that he would never be able to lead such a life; his personality would not allow it. He needed the feeling of adrenalin pumping through his veins. It was true that he would prefer it not being a result of Death Eaters chasing him, but he could see nothing wrong with a good adventure. His biggest hurdle, as always in this new life, was his age. Normal kids his age did not go of into the wild to have an adventure. He was very grateful for his second chance; he just wished he would grow up faster so that he could be more in control of his own destiny.

Harry did a bit more wondering around and went into almost every shop in town. After about three hours, he decided it was time to go home. He leisurely strolled out of town. On the way, he saw a horticulture nursery. Harry did not really care for plants; he had spent too much time weeding the garden in his other life, but decided to take a look. It was something to do with his time. Maybe he would see some of the plants he learned about in herbal healing.

He entered expecting to find rows of potted plants. What he found was a beautiful Chinese garden with walkways, streams, and oriental statues. As he walked through the garden, he felt an unexplained calm. He found it strange that there were not any other people; he reasoned that most adults were at work and no normal kids would go to a nursery if they could go to the movies or play with their friends in the park. Harry did not mind the absence of people; he enjoyed it. For a moment, he could be himself.

At the back of the garden, he saw the first sight of human life. It was an elderly man doing some strange dance with a sword. It was beautiful and graceful; seeming to allow the blade to effortlessly cut through the air. At the same time, Harry was awed by the power and strength behind the movements. He did not know how to describe what he was seeing. This was a kind of magic all by itself. Wizards would laugh at this observation, but in his heart, Harry knew he had discovered another hidden magical art. Harry stood rooted to his place; afraid he would distract the man and stop the dance that fascinated him so much.

After a while, the man finished his routine, looked up at Harry, and nodded. He then put down his sword, picked up a staff, and started all over again. For the rest of the day Harry sat under a tree and watched as this master practiced his art.

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Harry could not get what he'd seen the previous day out of his mind, not even with all his meditation and Occlumency exercises. The movements even haunted his dreams. He wanted to see more, to learn more. He was almost obsessed with it. The next day he went back to the garden hoping that he would see the old man again. He was relieved when he found him at the same place again. For the rest of the week, he went to the garden every day to watch the old man.

At the end of the week, the old man came over to Harry after he went through his daily ritual.

"Why do you come back everyday, young one?"

Harry was startled when the man came over to him; in the past week the man had never acknowledged his presence except for a small nod of the head.

Harry got up from the ground and answered, "I like watching you."

The old man smiled at the answer. "Wouldn't you rather be playing than watching an old man?"

Harry smiled sadly at that question, in his old childhood he was never allowed to play and in this life he was always pushing himself to develop some skill or other. Harry did not have time for playing games.

"No; I am fascinated by your art. I hope I am not bothering you."

"You are not; I just find it strange that you come here every day instead of watching TV or playing computer games like the rest of your age."

"I don't like wasting my time sitting in front of a box."

"So you would rather sit in my garden and waste your time."

Harry laughed at that. "I like your garden; it is so peaceful and tranquil. I like what it represents."

"That would be?" the old man asked puzzled by the child in front of him.

"I don't really know why I got this idea, but I feel this place is the promise of live, of peace and harmony."

"Interesting answer young one; why do you seek peace when so often young men want action. Always looking for glory."

Harry laughed again at the strange old man. "I do not desire glory," Harry answered bitterly, thinking of where most of the young people, in his old life's, glory seeking had gotten them. Death. Either wearing combat robes or Death Eater garb. "I would like a bit of adventure, though I would not mind a little bit of relaxation."

The old man inclined his head and considered Harry's answer. He had expected the child to go on about how cool the fighting was and that he wanted to learn it to impress his friends, as it was what most young people did. That is also the reason he did not take students under the age of eighteen. He did not like to waste his time on young people's egos. He last had an apprentice five years ago, mainly because he could not find any since that had the right attitude. Yet this kid understood that this was not fighting like in the movies, that this was art in movement. He was intrigued by the child and wanted to find out more about him.

"Tell me, how old are you child?"

"I'll be eight in June," Harry answered while trying to calculate how old he would be if he was still in his old life. _Would I even still be alive if fate had not stepped in?_

"Yet you have wisdom beyond your years."

It seemed to Harry that everything this old man said was funny. He never thought himself wise. It was almost preposterous. If his previous life experience had made him wise, then he would rather be ignorant.

"I would not call myself wise," Harry smiled. "Wisdom is the sad result of lessons learned the hard way, and even the wisest person in the world can still make decisions that lead to folly. I will leave it for the old that have nothing else left but their supposed wisdom and knowledge."

He was again taken aback by the child's answer. He sensed a lot of bitterness in this young one. He was tempted to read the child's aura but decided against it. It was very difficult to read a child correctly because they were still developing and constantly changing.

"If you do not seek glory, and do not desire wisdom, what is it that you seek?"

Harry took a moment to consider, he had no idea where this conversation was heading. This man seemed to ask random questions and make assumptions out of his answers that he did not understand. This was worse than talking to Dumbledore. He would have to continue talking to find out where this was heading.

"Skill. That is what I seek. Skills to prepare for my future."

That was it; the child did want to learn. He just had a strange way of asking.

"So, you would have me teach my art to you?"

"If you were willing to share it with me, I would consider it an honor; but I have no means of payment."

"I do not take children as my students; they don't have the focus, dedication or patience to learn this noble art. As for payment, I ask for none; this is an ancient and sacred knowledge, freely given to those that are worthy."

Harry answered. "If I could prove to you that I was indeed dedicated and had the focus necessary, would you teach me?"

The man considered that for a long while. The child in front of him showed a lot of potential. To help him with his decision he finally gave in to his curiosity and looked at the boy's aura. What he saw shocked him.

"You are surrounded by darkness, great anger, hate, evil and despair. Yet you are not consumed by it, you are pure of heart."

Harry was very confused by that answer. What was the old man talking about? He knew he was surrounded by evil; after all, he did have a very unique link to Voldemort. The question was how the old man knew about it.

"What?" was all Harry could get out through his shock.

"I will teach you if you can prove your worth, come back tomorrow," was all the man said before he turned around and walked away, ignoring Harry's last question.

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Once again Harry had a sleepless night where he relived most of the worst battles of his old life. He saw how Hermione died saving his life. He saw how Neville fell while he was tending to the wounds of an injured Hit Wizard. He saw how Ron died in an explosion that save the squad's lives but cost his own. One by one, he saw how all of his friends died. At about two in the morning, he got out of bed shaking with grief. The moment he sat up, he became physically ill. This was not the first time it happened and he had a container handy for that specific purpose. One banishing charm later and all the evidence of his bad night were gone. He spent the rest of the night practicing magic; he was currently at about a fifth year level in charms. He could do spells that were more difficult, but that took a lot of time and focus. He did not want to augment his headache right now by practicing advanced spells.

At about four in the morning, Harry started with his morning Occlumency exercises, satisfied with his progress in charms. After that, he started to practice his flute. He wished he could play piano, but he would have to wait for school to start again. Mrs. De Villiers had given him a guitar as an early birthday present; she said it would be a travesty if his musical talent suffered just because he did not have the instruments to practice in the holidays. He hid his instruments in his cupboard and only played them when the Dursleys were away as they did not like "him making that racket." Dudley said that real men did not do girly things like music. When Harry asked him, what about all those Bands on the TV, he said that that was different. Harry did not even bother to ask how. He liked playing and nothing that the Dursleys said or did would stop him. The discovery of Tune Magic only motivated him to practice more.

It was now six and Harry got up to go and make breakfast. He was not forced to do it like in his old life, but his family was generally friendlier with him if they woke up to a nice breakfast. He ate an egg and a few pieces of bacon and then left for his morning run, after he secretly renewed the congeniality charm on his relatives.

When he got back, he quickly showered, got dressed and went to the nursery. He did not know what to expect from the old man. Did he really want to learn martial arts? He had a little skill that he'd picked up from one of the American wizards. However, did he really want to spend time learning it when he could be practicing his magic? The answer was yes; he wanted to learn all the old man had to offer. Regardless of how strange he was. Harry was convinced that there was some form of magic involved in that physical fighting technique.

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When Harry got to the garden, the old man was already waiting for him.

"Yesterday when we met, we did not introduce ourselves properly, I am Master Li.

Harry nodded his head and said. "My name is Harry Potter."

The master inclined his head slightly and answered "Now that I know your name let us see if you will become my student." He paused there to see if Harry had any questions, when none was asked, he continued. "The arts will require a lot of concentration and focus; do you know what meditation is?"

"Yes, I do," Harry answered.

"If you are to become my student you would have to meditate at least twice a day. Are you willing to sit still and focus for two hours a day?" Master Li asked expecting the young boy to give up right there. Most grown men could not manage meditating for that long. That was why he did not currently have an apprentice; most of the suitable candidates would rather take lessons at a commercialized dojo where they did not have to spend as much time meditating. In their haste to make progress, they lost the true essence of the arts. He was shocked when the boy smiled and answered.

"No problem. I already meditate twice daily; it won't be a problem."

He nodded, not quite believing the answer; it would be easy enough to find out later. "The arts are a physical discipline you would have to be in a good physical shape, so if you are to be my student I want you to run three miles everyday."

Harry nodded; he already ran every morning, he would just go twice around the block instead of only once.

"You still want to learn from me?"

"Yes, master Li. I am fascinated by your skills. I want to learn."

"If you are sure let's see what skill you have. I want you to sit with me and meditate. Please tell me when your minds start to wonder, do not lie; I will know when your concentration wavers."

They then sat on the grass under the tree with the sound of water flowing and bugs flying in their ears. Focusing totally inwards, unaware of the time or their surroundings. Harry used this time to clear his mind and reassess his mind shields; there was still a great amount of room for improvements. He doubted he would be able to withstand a direct Legilimency attack. His magic was not strong enough yet to shield his mind properly. He thought himself extremely lucky that he could stop Dumbledores' memory wipe when he was small. He guessed that the spell was not that strong or he would not have been able to stop it. That happened four years ago, but he was still angry with Dumbledore. Harry did not know how he would act when he met him again, but at the moment, he only felt disappointment towards the old man.

"Master, I am sorry my mind wondered," Harry said, disappointed with himself when he realize his thoughts of Dumbledore had disturbed his inner piece.

"Do not be so disappointed with yourself young one, we have been meditating for the past two hours. I am very pleased that you managed for so long."

Harry looked surprised, he had not realized the time; to him it only felt like a few minutes.

The old Master smiled at the young boy's expression. He was very pleased, only the most disciplined of people could stay focused for that long. He knew the boy had told the truth about his daily meditation. He wondered why an unskilled and untrained person would do that, especially at so young an age.

"Harry tell me, what other sports to you do? Have you ever had training in the arts before?"

"No Master. A friend showed me some karate moves once, but that is not the same as what I saw you do. During the school term I do gymnastics and fencing."

"You like fighting then?" Master Li asked.

Harry shook his head and answered immediately. "I hate it; I think the world would be a better place if it was never necessary."

"I do not understand why you would want to learn the arts and take fencing as a class, if you don't like it."

"Because sometimes you do not have a choice," Harry answered sadly, thinking of the prophecy. "Sometimes you must fight to protect those who are innocent. I want to learn in the hope that I would not have to use my skills, but with the reassuring knowledge that I would be ready when the time comes. I do not want to stand helpless on the sidelines watching as other do what is right, but unable to help. Anyway, I like the skill involved in fencing."

Master Li was once again astounded by the answer. How is it that a mere boy of eight could understand the essence of the arts, when grown men had tried to grasp it for years, and failed? There was something truly special about this boy. He knew that with the correct guidance he could be great. Nevertheless, he was wary to train him, the boy was still so young and he was afraid that he did not have the skills to train someone like Harry.

"I want you to run around this garden three times. I want to asses your fitness."

Harry just nodded and went off at a steady pace. Master Li watch his progress, taking the time to make up his mind. If he decided to train him, he would effectively be breaking his own rules. He knew in his heart he would train the boy, a person like him was extremely rare and he did not want to risk Harry losing his battle with the darkness because he did not have the correct support and guidance.

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The years went by quickly now that Harry was so busy. With school, extra magical research with Hermione and Mrs De Villiers, and lessons with master Li, he rarely made it home before late in the evenings.

He and Hermione were great friends and Harry knew he knew her better now than he ever knew her in his other life. He had helped her to gain control of her magic and develop her magical core. After she had a good understanding of magic, he started to teach her basic wandless magic. It was a slow process, but Harry enjoyed helping his friend. The problem was that he could not teach her any spells that would give his knowledge away. Their Latin class was a great help there. They made spells up using Latin and experimented with the results. Through this process Harry had manage to teach her most of the first and second year spells wandlessly. She had a lot more difficulty with wandless magic than Harry did, but he was not too bothered by that. Most people were unable to perform even half of what Hermione could do.

Harry knew it would be easier if she had a wand, but he did not have the material to make her a wand and he did not want to go to the magical world to buy her one. He also kept his wand a secret from her. For some reason, he was very protective of his wand and did not want to share it.

The absence of a wand was not that big of a set back for Hermione. There was a lot of alternative Magic to learn. Harry was on the same level as she was when it came to the new magical forms. They enjoyed discovering the intricate mysteries of the hidden powers. Hermione had a bigger affinity to Healing and Rune Magic than Harry. He preferred Crystal and Tune Magic.

Yes, helping Hermione with her magic was interesting; he could still remember their lessons together.

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The pencil remained firmly on the tabletop. Hermione crossed her arms, and pouted. "_Harry had made it look so easy! Why couldn't I do it?" _She knew she was not stupid, but maybe she just was not cut out to be a witch after all._ No! I will do it. I will keep at it until I have levitated that rotten pencil, or I won't sleep tonight! I'll show Harry Bloody Potter; I will!_ With a nod and a spirit of determination, she uncrossed her arms and pointed her hand at the red-painted, B2 pencil.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The chewed end of the pencil mocked her with its motionlessness. Frustrated, she tried again, this time pointing her finger at a wadded-up sheet of paper, almost shouting, _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_ Nothing. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

She was a failure. She felt like she wanted to cry. A hand on her forearm broke her concentration and drew her out of her funk.

"Hermione, just a moment."

Frustration jerked her nascent sadness into anger. She glared at Harry. He smiled back at her gently, pushing her hand down so that it rested on the tabletop. Taking a hint, stopped trying and tried to calm herself, but only sadness returned as she watched the stationary pencil.

"Hermione... listen for a moment." Looking back at Harry, she saw that he was looking at her with a serious expression.

"What?"

"I did this before, and you assume it's easy. The thing is it took me over a year to be able to start doing things other than sparks."

Hermione stared at him in horror. "A year! What...! It couldn't possibly...!"

"Yes it can and it's alright, no one is pressuring you to get it the first time. You're still young and have plenty of time to develop your magical power and skill. What I meant was, I know how magic is supposed to feel. After all, I did all kinds of things without any spells like the ones we've figured out." A lie... but not really, he really could do that now after extensive practice. Harry told her to observe him closely and he slowly moved his hand in the same pattern that he would if he had used a wand. Then he slowly pronounced the spell.

"I think all these hand movements are aids. Crutches to help you direct the magic. I know it's not necessary; if these were really necessary, would there be any accidental magic? But I think it might help you get it right initially."

"Oh! You really think I'll be able to do it if I practice the hand movements?

"Yes I do, though it would be better if it weren't needed."

"I'm confused, so I don't need these movements to cast a spell?"

Harry smiled, and pointed his hand directly at the pencil. Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed deeply in and out then in again, then opening his eyes once again and without a single word or movement, the pencil began to float. Now Harry moved his finger, like a pointer. As he pointed, the pencil followed, but not every movement was caused by the move of his hand. He made the pencil spin in place, and pirouette on its axis, and even move closer and farther away, all without fancy movements, or intricate incantations.

Then the pencil rested once again on the table and Hermione's eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Please, Harry, can you show me how to do that?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, of course I will. Err, I mean, I'll try. I'll try my very hardest."

There was a long pause, which Hermione broke by saying, "So? How do you do it?"

"Intent, focus, relaxation, and decision," Harry answered.

"Excuse me? What do you mean by that?"

"You must know what you intend to do, and you must focus upon it. You must relax, so that your power will flow, and you must decide to perform the spell," he explained.

"I don't understand. Maybe if you gave an example. Like, what process did you go through when you levitated the pencil?"

"Well, my intent varied, but to start with I decided I wanted it to float in line with my hand, staying the same distance away, and remaining otherwise still. I didn't decide that I just wanted it to rise, or it would have just gone up and not stopped until I decided for it to stop." He smirked a little in memory. "I put a book through the ceiling once that way."

He shared a laugh with Hermione, and continued.

"Um, focus. I focused on my magic, feeling it and telling it that I needed it to do something for me, and I focused on the pencil – I did not want the table itself to levitate, after all. Relaxation, you have to relax when you cast a spell or your magic will not flow. It is rather like having to hold on when you cannot get to the toilet; tensing up like you were before only ensures that your magic can't get out. And decision, I imagined a valve in my wrist to control the flow of magic; when I wanted to start levitating I flipped the valve on; when I wanted the spell to end I turned it off."

"Oh! And when you made it twirl about, that was varying your intent?"

Harry nodded. "That's really the most important thing. All the others you have to do, too, but if you don't control your intent properly then all kinds of weird things can happen."

"I think I get it! The spells we created helps to set the intent so you have a mental image of what will happen; and the hand movements you showed me helps focus intent and the starting and ending movements are the decision! Yes?"

"I guess so! All I know is what works for me. If you doubt whether the spell will happen, it will not. You have to know it will work."

Hermione sat back in her chair, looking up at the top of the far wall as she mulled things over. "I suppose," she said at length, "that I understand everything except what you meant by feeling your magic and telling it... something."

"Ah. Yes. Well, as I said it took me a while. I had to borrow books on meditation from the library before I had any luck."

"I rather imagine the meditation helped with relaxation, too," said Hermione in a not-quite know-it-all voice. Harry just shrugged in reply.

That was one of his fondest memories in this new life. He liked working with her and sharing with her all his new magical discoveries.

The only magical form he did not share with his friend was his discovery of body magic. Through his martial arts training, he discovered a way to channel his magic directly to his muscles. This increased his speed and power while fighting. Harry was convinced that his master unknowingly also did it. All living things had raw magical energy inside of them, even muggles. Most just did not have enough to use it like wizards. That was why the other forms of magic were possible. It was ways muggles had found to utilize their limited magical power.

After three years of training with Master Li, he finally taught Harry how to read auras. This was a very useful skill for Harry. Surprisingly, his knowledge of crystal magic helped him interpret the colors he saw when he read auras. It was very interesting and fun for Harry to read all the people around him. Master Li told him to use this new skill with caution. It was dangerous to make assumptions about people based solely on auras.

Harry was getting very skilled with the arts; he was by no means a master but he was skilled in most of the weapons. His favorite was the Japanese kantana. He was also very good with the staff. He did not really like the other weapons, he could use them but he felt uncomfortable. He did not experience the easy flow of motion he felt when using a sword. He felt like one with his weapon when practicing with his katana.

After all the years training with Master Li, Harry still did not understand half of what he said. Harry had come to love and respect his Master; he knew he would miss him dearly when he went away to Hogwarts.

As with everything in life, nothing remained the same, because change was an indicator of life. Harry knew that his life would soon change with the arrival of his Hogwarts letter. For years, that was the only thing he had wished for and now that it was almost time, it saddened him. He liked his new life; he did not know how he would cope with being back a Hogwarts and all that it entailed. He knew his time of rest and relaxation was over…

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A/N

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, it is a bit short but it was really just a filler to get Harry on his way to Hogwarts, I hate fillers but it was unfortunately necessary.

I know almost nothing about martial arts. If I messed up, sorry.

About alternative magic, the magic that appears in this chapter is not the only ones that will feature in this story. I have compiled a list of about fifteen different kinds of magic. Can't expect little old Harry to learn it all in one try. I have big plans, you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks to my Vampire for helping me with that.

Thanks for all the reviews!!!!!!! Me like a lot!!!!!!!!!! Seriously you keep me motivated.

Sister of Death, Sunfairy, AquaRias, HarbringerLady, HSMHP, Fire of the lioness Sage of the Flux Mysteries Skippy Agogo Caliko luckyshot572 hpnut1 CrisscrossAnime takshak stonegnome1 hilarydilarydoc Twin Tails Speed, one-village-idiot, Shadowgal ANBU, animeflunky, Weasel Debater, Comet Moon, tlfsjs, Amarthiel, pottersparky

Till next time.

REVIEW!

Amberile B-)


	5. The return to the magical world

**Fight against Fate **

Summary: This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is in after time travel. A world of alternative magic, magical creatures and unexpected friends.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Parts of this chapter is from the story Undo, Retry by Olafr. I give full credit to him. His story is the muse that inspired my writing.

!!!!!!!Once again a huge thank you to my trusty Beta** Weasel Debater**. _Also thanks __**FairyMei33**__ for revising this chapter. _B-) !!!!!!!

**Chapter 4 The return to the magical world **

Aunt Petunia's shrill voice startled him as she pounded on his cupboard door.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Every morning that she came to call him, Harry hoped that he would not have to recast the congeniality spell; but, sadly, he was disappointed every morning. _'Better get it over and done with.'_ He cast it through the door. In all these years, his aunt never realized that he had a wand. _'Muggles try really hard not to notice magic.' _

"Harry dear, will you please help me in the kitchen. I want everything to be perfect on Duddy's special day."

'_Amazing how her attitude changed with just a wave of a wand.' _Harry thought sadly as he went to help her with the bacon.

When Harry got to the kitchen he was glad to see that the table was not hidden beneath presents. With his better attitude, Dudley did not demand so much attention. He was happy with the things he got. This birthday, he received a new computer from his father, a few computer games from his mother, and a camera from his aunt Marge. Harry had decided to be nice so he also gave Dudley a gift.

'_What a contrast to my previous life, if one could call it that.'_

Harry would be going with the Dursleys to the zoo. In his new life, he never had to stay with Mrs. Figg, as they usually took him with them when they went out. Although Harry did not enjoy his stays with her in his other life, before he knew she was a squib. He now knew she was a contact to the magical world and he sometimes wished that he could visit her. He was still grateful for her help in his fifth year. Hopefully that event would not happen in this life.

A half hour later, after Piers had arrived, they were on their way to the zoo. As they drove, Uncle Vernon complained to his wife about the traffic. Not even the charm was strong enough to take that negative aspect of his personality away. At least he did not complain that much about Harry anymore. When Vernon went on a tirade against young hoodlums on motorbikes Harry knew better than to comment. Silence was the golden rule for peace in this family. The Dursleys still freaked out if he talked about "unnatural" things.

They had a lovely day. They had ice-cream and hamburgers, making jokes while watching all the animals. Everything went well. That is until they reached the reptile house.

Harry did not really want to stay in there for long. All those snakes talking and hissing to him was starting to give him a headache. Dudley had other plans; he wanted to look at all the big and poisonous snakes. Harry could not remember having this problem the previous time. He reasoned that he was not that aware of his ability to speak to snakes then, maybe that had an effect. His magic was better developed this time and he also had a better understanding of how it worked. At this moment he wished that was not the case. All the snakes brought back bad memories of Nagini and the Basilisk.

Harry was standing in front of the tank of the Brazilian Boa Constrictor trying to ignore all of the snakes. Dudley had already moved on to another tank and was getting bored. As he stared at it the snake winked at him.

"Don't look at me like that," Harry said. "I know you're annoyed with all these people but there nothing I can do about it." He really did not want to repeat what happened last time.

The snake just shook his head sadly.

"Dudley! Mr. Dursley! Come and look at this snake! You won't believe what it's doing!"

This sudden shout behind Harry startled him and for a moment he lost control of his magic. In that instant the glass of the boa constrictor's tank vanished.

'_Oh, not again!' _Harry thought with dismay as the snake sailed past.

"Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."

Dudley and Piers leapt back with terrified screams. In seconds all of the people in the reptile house were screaming and running for the exits.

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Harry sat in his cupboard that evening, lamenting his misery. His uncle was beside himself with rage. Especially after Piers claimed that Harry was talking to the snake before everything happened. For the first time in a long time, he was sent to his cupboard without food. That really did not bother him that much. He knew how to conjure sandwiches, they did not taste that nice, but he would not go hungry. At this moment, his thoughts were occupied with one simple word; _why?_ Why did things happen the way they had today? He had no intention to free the snake, and yet it happened. What was Fate's intention with it all? Did it mean that certain events had to take place? What implications would it have for him? Harry was also angry at himself for losing control of his magic like that. No matter how hard he tried, his young body could not always contain his magical power. Accidental magic was part of being a young wizard and, although training helped with control, it did not entirely eliminate the problem.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry woke up this morning with a huge smile on his face. It was the summer holidays and he was once again allowed outside the cupboard. He had received the same punishment for the snake incident as in his previous life. It was not that bad this time; he had a lot to keep himself occupied. He mainly focused on practicing his magic and his music. He needed to learn better control over his magic, with his increase of power he had to work on control all over again. He was getting really tired of the minor accidents that kept happening around him. He had thought that having a wand would solve the problem of controlling his power. He was wrong; really wrong. Weird things constantly happened around him. The only thing that prevented a nasty reaction from his guardians was the congeniality charm he put on them. But his fortunes would soon be changing.

Today was the day! This was the day that would change his life. Harry had been anticipating this day for the past ten years. Today was the day his Hogwarts letter would finally arrive. The letter that would announce, once again, his return to the magical world.

"Harry, breakfast!" Aunt Petunia called.

Getting up from his four-poster bed, he dressed quickly; Harry slipped his wand into his pocket after recasting the congeniality charm and left the extraordinarily spacious cupboard under the stairs. As he exited, he quickly checked the muggle repelling ward over the doorway. That was also one of his brightest ideas.

As Harry entered the kitchen, he was grateful to see his aunt was not dyeing old clothes for his new school uniform. Interestingly enough, he would be going to Smeltings with Dudley if his letter did not arrive. _'Fat chance of that happening,'_ he thought cheerfully.

Seeing as Dudley was now a somewhat nicer person, he did not carry his Smeltings stick with him. Harry was grateful he would not get poked or hit with it.

They heard the click of the letter-box and the flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the post, Harry," Uncle Vernon said from behind his paper.

Harry did not argue; he was too eager and excited to get to the door and the letter that would unlock his future. True, it would also bring the darkness closer to him, he had spent a lot of time debating if he wanted to go back, whether he was prepared for his task, but after a lot of soul searching, Harry decided he was ready.

He walked to the door, grinning as he picked up the mail and sorted through it briefly. He smiled in gratification. _'Finally it was time to rejoin the wizarding world; my world!'_ the expected letter was there.

"Here you go, Aunt Petunia," Harry said. Putting the remainder of the mail down on the tabletop, Harry took the letter addressed to him and sat down before opening it. Taking a deep breath to calm him self.

"You can call me mum, Harry dear, you know that," said Petunia. "Thanks for getting the mail."

'_Fat chance that ever happening. If I haven't done it in six years, I will never do it.' _The part of Harry that was still stuck in the past rebelliously thought.

"What do you have there, Harry my boy?" asked Vernon, looking up from his paper after Dudley poked him.

"I received a letter," he said, putting on a puzzled face. Pretending ignorance was extremely difficult, seeing as he could hardly contain his excitement.

"Oh, really?" asked Petunia as she handed her husband a cup of tea. "Who'd be writing to you? Not that fancy school of yours again, I hope."

"No," Harry answered, embarrassed. His accidental magical slips also happened occasionally at school. It was not that he did not know how to control his magic, accidents just happened. Another problem was that he still had a good dose of paranoia left from his other dangerous life, so he automatically responded if you approached him unexpectedly from behind. With his new martial arts skills, he usually scared people with his swift reaction. Luckily, he had enough control not to hurt someone. Mrs. De Villiers also helped to smooth things over with his other teachers.

Harry slowly turned the letter over, looking at it. "It's strange; there are no postmarks on it, and it is addressed to 'The Cupboard Under The Stairs'. I do not think the school knows where my room is. I don't know if anyone knows, I've never told anyone about it." Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as Petunia and Vernon exchanged a meaningful glance. He never even told Hermione about his cupboard, he was afraid that it would give too much away. She would probably freak out and tell a teacher. That would certainly draw unwanted attention.

"Harry," Vernon said, "leave that for the moment Petunia and I would like to talk to you before you read it."

'_This certainly went better than the last time, but what could be so important to keep me from opening my letter_?' he wondered annoyed.

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After they finished eating, Vernon took Dudley to visit Gordon, one of his friends. For once, Dudley did not want to go; he wanted to know why his parents were making so much fuss about a stinky old letter. _'Who would write to my cousin anyway? He always kept to himself and weird things always seem to follow him. Something is going on…'_

When Vernon returned, they all sat down in the lounge room. There was a strained silence for a long time. Harry could not handle the suspense any longer. He wanted so badly to open the letter. It was killing him to wait and pretend that he did not know what it was about.

"What's so special about this letter?" he gestured at the letter. "Why can't I read it? It's my letter, isn't it?" Harry was afraid that maybe things would work out just like last time after all. _'I really do not want to travel cross country avoiding letters and staying in dodgy places again.'_

"We're not saying you can't open the letter, Harry," Petunia said. "It's just that we wanted to talk to you first and explain some things. I also don't want Dudley to find out about this."

"When we found you Harry," added Vernon, "there was a note which said you were a wizard, just like your parents. That's why all those strange things keep happening around you. We didn't want to tell you about it, we are not that comfortable with the whole thing. We decided it was best to wait till you were older to tell you what you are and what really happen with your parents. That note also said that you were enrolled in Hogwarts and would be receiving a letter about now."

Harry stared at his guardians in shock. Never in his life could he ever imagine that they would have this discussion. In his other life, his parents and magic were a taboo subject. Harry already knew everything that they wanted to tell him, but the fact that they would willingly discuss what happened warmed his heart.

"I'm a …what?" he asks faking surprise.

"You're a wizard, Harry," answered Petunia. "Just like my sister and her husband."

"You said something about the truth about my parents… didn't they die in a car crash?"

"Unfortunately not, they were murdered by an evil wizard," Vernon said.

"Oh," was all Harry said. He had heard the story so many times. He had relived it in his nightmares even more times. He did not know how to respond to it now.

Vernon and Petunia shared a glance, and Petunia said, "Why don't you open your letter, you must be curious what it's all about?" She wanted to change the subject; she really did not like talking about her sister.

Harry just nodded; he wanted to enjoy the moment. He did not want to be trapped by morbid thought about things that happened so long ago and which he could not change. He looked at the envelope uncertainly; he had to remember to act surprised. Keeping up this charade was getting bothersome.

"Hogwarts… what is that?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Read you letter Harry, it will explain everything," Petunia encourage.

Harry picked up the envelope, cracked the wax seal and opened the letter. It was precisely the same letter as the first time. Harry decided to use this opportunity to get his equipment immediately as he read through the equipment list. It was time to go through his school stuff and high time to practice brewing potions, it had been so long, so he did not know if he could still do it. In his other life his animosity with Snape always got in his way to study potions, it was only after Snape left that Harry realize how useful and sometimes crucial potions could be. _'Snape, how would I deal with him knowing what he did, or rather will do?'_ Now was not the time to think of that however so he forced his mind back to the current discussion.

"They've included an equipment list. It says we can get everything from a place called Diagon Alley in London. It's near..." and Harry paused to fake looking at the letter again although he knew perfectly well were the alley was, "...Charing Cross. Can we go, please?"

"Yes, of course," said Uncle Vernon but he could not hide the hesitant tone in his voice. He was scared out of his wits of the prospect of going to a place filled with unnatural freaks. "But we cannot go today; it's a two hour drive to London and your aunt has made other plans. We can go next weekend." It was a short reprieve he knew, but maybe if he could put it off long enough he would not have to go with Harry.

Harry wanted to protest, but kept his mouth shut; at least they were willing to take him. He knew things could be a lot worse. Harry looked down at his letter again.

"We await your owl by no later than 31 July," he read aloud. "Where do you think I could...?" Harry asked, looking for a way to get to Diagon Alley sooner.

"There is one sitting in the window!" Vernon said, irritated. '_What would the neighbours think?'_

Harry smiled and nodded. Things were definitely looking up.

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Harry walked through the garden looking for Master Li, after all these years the place still filled him with a sense of peace. He found him tending to one of the bonsai trees.

"Master," Harry greeted with a bow. "Soon I will have to leave here to follow my destiny."

"I knew this day would come; though I do not know what you must do, I wish you luck. Remember to always keep the balance and use your skills wisely. There is much I can still teach you, but time is against us. My door is always open to you."

"Thank you; the time we have spent together has meant a lot to me. I am forever in your debt. I will return in the holidays so we can continue with my training."

"We still have a little time left before you go away; come to me at the next full moon."

Harry smiled and bowed before he went back home.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Uncle Vernon dropped Harry off in front of a dingy, run-down pub. The windows were painted over and an old, blackened sign proclaimed it 'The Leaky Cauldron.'

Harry took a good look around to remember all the times he had entered through that door to the wonderful world of magic. Non-magical people could not even see the Leaky Cauldron, so he'd had to point it out to his Uncle. Vernon just nodded and drove off the moment Harry got out of the car, afraid that someone would see him near that 'freaky place'. After Harry finished his survey of the surroundings, he opened the door and entered.

It was strange but after ten years in this peaceful world, Harry still did his 'paranoid ritual' of assessing his surroundings for possible dangers and finding all possible escape routes before allowing the door to closed behind him. Moody had drilled it into him; no matter how much time had passed, he still remembered it. Constant Vigilance was an imprinted mantra. As he entered the pub, he immediately did it again. It was a natural process by now and only took a few seconds. He noticed that, even at this time of the morning, there were a number of patrons sitting at tables, either huddled in conversation or just waiting. Luckily, he could not sense any threats directed against him currently, although one hag that sat at the far end of the room gave off an evil feeling. As he stared at the room, Harry was caught up in one of his memories. He marvelled at the sight around him, not because it was great-looking, but at the fact that it was still there. In his other life, after Dumbledore's death, Diagon Alley was one of the first places that was destroyed. He could still remember the smell of burning flesh and wood mixed in with the sickening clouds of black. Harry remembered standing there, looking at the carnage and thinking it was his fault entirely; he was unable to stop Voldemort and his followers.

Harry did not notice the door opening behind him and was literally knocked out of his memories as the person entering walked into him.

His defensive instincts kicked in immediately and he was on his feet in seconds, facing the person that knocked him down in a combat stance. Harry was feeling very angry with himself for being so distracted. Where was his 'constant vigilance'? If he was still in his other life, he would be dead now; Death Eaters would capitalize on any distractions. To his relief, it was not an enemy that stood in front of him, it was someone he really trusted and missed from his other life.

Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"I am so sorry," she said, looking down at the little person she had bumped into. To her surprise, she saw a miniature James Potter looking back up at her, right down to the thick, perennially messy black hair.

Before Harry could respond, someone gasped loudly.

"Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter!"

Harry winced internally. Trust Doris Crockford not to miss a trick. Playing his part, Harry looked around wildly, settling on a hunch-backed old crone. She held out a hand in greeting. "Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter. It's a real pleasure to meet you."

Harry shook her hand numbly, and then she was replaced by another person, a grizzled old man with mutton chop whiskers.

He whished he had thought to change his appearance before he came in. There was nothing he could do about it now though, he would just have to sick it out and deal with it.

"Dedalus Diggle, Mr. Potter. It's an honour." Again, Harry shook hands, this time looking up to Professor McGonagall in near panic. It was totally faked, he was used to people acting this way, but this was supposed to be his first contact with the wizarding world and he acted his part.

"That will be quite enough!" rang out McGonagall's voice. "Mr. Potter has been raised by his Muggle relatives since he lost his parents at a very young age, as you all no doubt know. He therefore knows nothing of the Wizarding world, so please allow me to familiarize Mr. Potter with our world before you congratulate him for something he no doubt does not remember!"

The silence that followed that outburst was absolute, and Professor McGonagall gathered up Harry and led him into a back room. He tried not to stare at the pink tinge that had blossomed on the Professor's cheeks as they trooped down the passageway. He also had to put the scene of his parents' death out of his mind that her words had recalled. As the door closed behind them, Harry heard the buzz of conversation resume with a slightly shocked overtone. _'That certainly went better than last time, and no Quirrell. I will have to work on a plan to deal with that bugger,'_ he thought as he closed the door.

The room was small, with a table and six chairs. A small fireplace sat in the corner and a fire was burning even though it was a warm day. Tools were stacked neatly to one side. Harry guessed the fireplace was used in floo conversations, like the time Sirius talked to him in his fourth year, but it was definitely too small to travel from.

"I am so sorry about what happened out there," McGonagall apologized.

"Hello," he said with self-assured voice, "I'm Harry Potter." Harry knew he was shocking her with his confidence, she was expecting that he would reacted differently. _'I should really work on my acting skills!' _Harry made a mental note.

"Well! Mr. Potter, I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall, I am a teacher at your new school," she answered and put out her hand, which Harry duly shook. Her hand tingled, just a little, as they touched. She suppressed her surprise at this sensation, she normally only felt it in Dumbledore's company, keeping her face professional. "Is this your first visit to the alley?"

Harry just nodded, he was not supposed to know her, and she was just a stranger that ran into him.

"Where are your guardians, I am sure they will get worried if they cannot find you."

"I came alone. They didn't want to come with me; they are too afraid of magic," he answered.

"Well that simply will not do; you cannot go walking around a strange alley alone."

Harry was slightly annoyed with his professor, but knew that he was supposed to be eleven, and eleven year olds did not have the freedom of adults.

"I am going to be the guide for a young muggleborn witch today, so I will be happy to show you around also. That way you will not get lost and those people can't bother you again."

"Thank you Professor," Harry answered, knowing that he really did not have a choice in the matter. _'Heaven forbid Harry Potter should be alone and in danger.'_

"Mr. Potter, I'm sure you have quite a few questions, but it would be best if you were to hold onto them for a just a little while. I will be very happy to answer all your questions later, when our other guess arrive, I assure you."

Harry looked up at her, a slightly puzzled expression on his face, he actually did not plan to ask anything, but, thinking of it now, he probably should, to keep the impression of his ignorance of the magical world. Harry nodded and Minerva smiled in gratitude. She then looked up to see two other people enter the room.

"Good day to you Mrs. Granger, and to you as well, Hermione."

Surprised, Harry looked up. Hermione saw him and smiled at him, running over to him she pounced and gave him a hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were also coming today? I've missed you so much this holiday."

"Mione, it's only been about a week; anyway, I did not know you would be here, but I'm really glad to see you too."

"Oh, today's going to be fun! Not only do I finally get to see the magical world, I get to explore it with my best friend ever!" Hermione said excitedly.

McGonagall was really surprised to see this. She knew something strange was going on the first time she met the Granger girl. As deputy headmistress, it was her duty to personally deliver the muggle born children's letters. They found it necessary to explain magic to the parents and that this was not a prank. When she gave Hermione her letter she did not respond with the normal doubt and fascination. She simply said, 'Finally, I've been waiting for my letter all year!' When she asked the girl about it she just answered that she had known she was a witch for a few years now and that she and her best friend have been planning to go to Hogwarts for a long time. At least now she knew who the friend was, but it still did not explaine how they knew about Hogwarts.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's begin," said McGonagall, realizing that now was not the time to wonder about it. "We'll spend a little while going over some simple rules, and then we'll go on to Diagon Alley itself."

"Please, take a seat," McGonagall said with a sigh. Drawing her wand, she conjured a blackboard on the wall opposite the fireplace, near one end of the table. She stood by the blackboard, took a deep breath, and began. _'This is going to be so boring.'_ Harry thought wistfully as he stared at the blackboard. '_Can't we just get on with it?_'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Finally, after an hour of explaining everything, _'Really everything!'_ McGonagall opened the portal to the alley. Harry's reaction to seeing the Alley was very much the same as the first time he saw it in his other live, this time it was just wonderful to see it and not a smoking pile of rubble. _'Did these people realize how dependent they were on this place? Probably not, if they did, they would have protected it better the first time round.' _

Their first stop of the day was Gringotts, the Wizarding bank.

They walked from the Leaky Cauldron, down the Alley. As they walked, Mrs. Granger and professor McGonagall gravitated together, so Harry naturally walked with Hermione talking excitedly about what they were seeing.

"How did your parents take the news?" Harry asked as they walked. They had decided not to tell anyone about their magic before they got their letters.

"Mum and Dad were ever so pleased to get the letter, really. As you know, they're both dentists and they are used to there being a reason for everything. When my letter came, it meant there was a reason for all the strange things that had been happening, you know? I don't think they could have taken another call from school about our strange accidents."

Harry nodded wordlessly, Hermione plunged on. "I think they were starting to worry about all the crystals and herbs in my room, Mom almost freaked out when she found a paper where I practised some of my runes. What about you're aunt and uncle, were they glad to get the letter?"

Harry grimaced, thinking back to his previous live and their reaction. "I suppose so," he said after awhile. "They never really said. It is not like they really like having me around, you know. They just tolerate me, I guess. They are probably glad their rid of me now, I mean, I will only return in the summer months. Now I will not be able to 'infect' Dudley with my weirdness anymore. Personally, I think it's a win-win situation."

"Oh"' Hermione said in shock. She always knew something was going on at her friends' house, but he never talked about it. He also did not want her to visit his house, he said his aunt did not like him inviting guests over. She got together her courage and asked the question she had been afraid to ask for a long time. "They don't... um... they don't… you know, do they?" she asked, unsure if she should be asking it now, after all the time they knew each other.

Harry got a cold glare in his eyes, thinking back to his old live and now, of all the actions he had to take to stay alive. He really did not want to talk about them now. Even if they were nicer to him in this time, he still had feelings of hate sometimes. As he looked into Hermione's concerned eyes his expression softened, he got a warm feeling in his heart at his friends concern, Harry replied, "No, not recently. Not since, I learned to get my magic under better control." '_Not to mention the congeniality charm_,' he thought silently before continuing. "They're really magic-phobic, in their minds no magic equals no punishment or something like that, really hard to know how their heads work. Anyway, when I have accidents it's not so bad anymore. They usually just ground me these days.'

Hermione stared at Harry, a surprised expression on her face. She did not know how to respond to his answer; eventually her curiosity got the upper hand.

"You know you never told me how you learned to do that, I know Mrs. De Villiers helped you, but that was always with the other stuff, never with the actual magic."

Harry nodded with an amused smile. "Yeah, I made a wand for myself when I was about five, you see. I had been turning my Uncle's hair pink and skin green, that kind of stupid stuff. It just came to me that perhaps if I had a wand, my power would not get out of control and maybe I would be able to do something useful, rather than annoying them and making them punish me. So I made a wand and tried really, really hard and…"

"Harry why didn't you tell me this before and why didn't you also make a wand for me?" Hermione asked crossly.

"I didn't have the right material Hermione; anyway you manage to control your magic just fine without a wand."

"You say you have managed to bring your magic under your conscious control, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked with amazement in her voice. Harry did not notice the adults stopping in front of him and he ran into Mrs. Granger and bounced off her and landed once again on the ground.

'_Damn, damn, damn!!!' _he thought. In his elation at seeing Hermione and visiting the ally, he let his guard down, again. He did not want anyone to discover their use of magic. It was done now; he would just have to try to find a way to use this situation to his advantage. After he sorted himself out, Harry looked up to see the Professor looking down at him, greatly surprised. He just nodded, looking down apologetically.

"Did you have any magical texts books, or that kind of thing?" she asked curiously.

"No, Professor, just two history books and one on creatures," said Harry still looking at his feet.

Minerva McGonagall was very puzzled to the boy's reaction to her questions._ 'He looks almost ashamed, and as if he did something really bad. Having control of your magic was nothing to feel bad about; actually doing it at five and teaching it to another was something to be immensely proud of. Where was the self assured boy she had met earlier?' _

"You made yourself a wand?" she inquired perplexed. _'Where would you find wand material in the muggle world?'_

"Yes, Professor," Harry answered while he got it out to show her.

"Never mind, Harry," she said, now in a more kindly voice. "We were going to have to stop in at Ollivander's anyway, but I can see that now we will have something to do there other than simply purchasing wands. Miss Granger, when did you start controlling your magic?"

"I was about seven or eight when I had my first accident; Harry already knew about magic so he showed me how it worked, though I had a hard time controlling it at first. After we started making up spells it got easier. It's actually a lot of fun."

McGonagall was really shocked, eight year old kids creating spells and actually performing it without wands. Deciding to once again focus on her currant task, she turned and continued leading the way.

They arrived at the wizard's bank. Gringotts doors were as imposing as ever. Harry re-read the words carved upon them, glancing at Hermione as he finished reading. She looked at Harry. He just smiled at her. McGonagall observed their exchange and said, "The Goblins do not take kindly to robbers and thieves. There has never been a successful theft in the history of the bank." She turned and led the way into the bank. _'Not for long.'_ Harry thought sadly, thinking back to his old life where Voldemort attempted to steal the stone.

Inside the bank, Harry allowed himself to gape at the splendor of the marble-lined hall and the Victorian arrangement of desks. Hermione also stared around her, a frown on her face.

"You should not expect computers; muggle technology does not work in the presence of large amounts of magic. This system works well once you get to know your account keeper." She paused, and then asked Hermione's mother, "Do you think you will open an account? If not, there is a desk for exchange."

"I think we'd prefer not to open an account for the time being," said Mrs. Granger, staring at the goblins.

"Very well, we will get Harry sorted out first, then I will take you to the exchange desk."

"Harry do you have your key with you?"

Harry nodded and took it out of his pocket. He went with Professor McGonagall to the same desk as Hagrid had taken him to that time when he had rescued him from the Dursley's. A moment's conversation and a goblin named Griphook was ordered to conduct him to his vault. _'Strange that Griphook always accompanies me to my vault, must be one of Dumbledore's meddlesome safety precautions.'_

Harry was glad he did not also have to go to vault 713 to get the 'You-Know-What' as Hagrid called the stone the first time. Harry did hope that the time lines did not change so much that Dumbledore would not remove it later, if that were the case Harry would have to deal with Voldemort much earlier than he intended. Professor McGonagall turned to take the Grangers to the exchange desk while Harry went down to his fault with the goblin.

And so it was that Griphook conducted Harry to the cart which was suspended between rails over an apparently infinite depth. Harry knew not to make the mistake of looking down. The manic roller coaster cart ride started and Harry was thrilled, wishing he could go faster. It was several minutes before they pulled to a stop by a stone ledge. Griphook got out first.

"Lamp, please," he said. Harry unhooked the lamp from its holder, and Griphook turned it to illuminate a massive door, roughly carved in no particular pattern that Harry could recognize. "Key, please," Griphook prompted, and Harry handed over his key with a smile. _'Some things never changed and goblin procedure was one of them, no matter what happened they always did things the same.'_

The vault door open moments later and somehow, the scant lamplight was multiplied as the contents of the vault were exposed in all their glittering glory.

Harry stepped forward and looked around, attempting to estimate the vault's holdings. Leaning down to scoop some coins into a bag, Harry asked, "Mr. Griphook, how do I find out the state of my accounts?"

"You should ask your account manager. However, it appears as though there are approximately fifty thousand galleons in this vault. I do not know about your other holdings."

"So I do have other investments?" Harry asked already knowing the answer. It was a huge surprise when he found out about it in his other life. This was just one of the secrets Dumbledore kept from him.

'Yes, Mr. Potter. You will gain access to your family fault and other accounts when you turn seventeen."

"That's all I wanted to know. Thank you." Finished filling his bag, Harry hooked it over his belt, and looked around once again. There was nothing else in here, just money. He wished he had access to his Family vault; there were a few books in there that he really wanted to read again. Not to mention his mother's dairy and some of his fathers 'gadgets', which had been quite useful during the war.

Harry got back into the cart and smiled at the goblin. "Tell me Griphook, would it be possible to go any faster?"

"An unusual request young wizard, but since you asked so nicely, yes," said Griphook with an amused grin. Harry smiled, he always suspected that the goblins had control over the speed of the carts; this was their little way to get back at all those pompous wizards that thought themselves superior.

"I think I will like doing business with you," Harry smiled as the cart sped off.

"You're not afraid you'll fall out?" the goblin asked, seeing the glee in Harry's eyes.

"I am sure there must be something that keeps us from falling out, no matter what. You cannot have customers falling to their deaths. It would be bad for business."

The goblin smiled at the young wizard as the cart stopped and he got out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was mid-afternoon by the time they got to Ollivander. They had gone first to a luggage shop, where Harry had discovered that he could use his key directly to transfer amounts of money that would be inconvenient to carry directly to the shopkeeper's account, and had therefore purchased a rather fancy nine-compartment trunk, much like Mad-Eye Moody's trunk, which just happened to look like it had only a single compartment. It had cost over seven hundred Galleons, but Harry knew that the cost was well worth it as it had built-in charms to prevent it getting too heavy, no matter how much was stored within. It was also spell resistant, which Harry knew was a very important feature, especially with his lifestyle, or rather, the lifestyle he would probably adopt again if things turned for the worse in this life and the war started again. The trunk could even hold a whole library's worth of books and a house's worth of furniture. Harry did not know if he would ever buy any furniture to keep in the trunk, but he did plan to build up a personal library.

'_Knowledge is power, and in my previous life I had very little of that. By the time we realized that, there were not any libraries left, and no time to learn stuff other than combat and survival skills. This time I plan to be prepared_.' The trunk could also only be opened by those whom Harry allowed access; as it had a magical security circle almost like a palm scanner. In addition, it had an exotic self-shrinking command that shrunk it down so that it was only as big as a packet of cards. Hermione had bought a standard student's trunk, but when Hermione had worried about how she would be able to fit all the books she wanted to take with her to Hogwarts, Harry had promised space in his trunk if she needed it for any reason.

After that, they had gone to Madam Malkin's. Harry was pleased that he had not run into Malfoy yet. He did not know if he had the self-restraint not to strangle that bastard on the spot if he saw him. Killing him once was not enough to make up for the loss of Ginny.

They then visited two different pet stores including Eyelops, where Harry had grabbed Hedwig again. _'Looks like I was destined to get you girl,'_ he thought while stroking her on the spot he knew she loved.

Hermione decided to wait before getting a pet; she first wanted to read up on the different kinds of owls and cats and then make an informed decision. Harry just smiled at that. Harry did hope that she would eventually buy Crookshanks again.

They then went to the apothecary for their potion supplies. Harry planned to start a potions lab in his cupboard to practice in and to brew some important potions like pepper-up and no-pain potions. He knew he could not buy the equipment he needed now, at least not without raising quite a few suspicions. Some of the ingredients that where needed where way past NEWT level potions. He also needed a lot more of the ingredients than what a standard school kit held. Therefore, he made a mental note of what he needed and took an owl order form when no one was looking.

Then, they went to buy their cauldrons. Harry knew just this one would not be enough. Some difficult potions needed to simmer for a while. In addition, pewter, although standard, did not work for all potions. Harry would have to order a complete cauldron set as soon as possible. One set of crystal phials would also not do. _'At this rate I would have to visit this place again. There is no way an owl could carry all this stuff.'_

After, they revisiting Madam Malkin's to pick up their uniforms. Harry looked at the dragon hide armor and knew he could not buy it. _'Why would a first year need it?'_ He also did not think they had anything in his size. He once again cursed his body. In this world he was eleven, not the adult he felt like. _'It's been ten years and I'm still not used to it.'_

After that, they had then spent far too much time in Flourish and Blotts buying their books. The prescribed texts had taken no time at all to find, but both Harry and Hermione insisted on browsing the entire bookstore. Harry made notes of books he wanted; he wanted to buy all the texts he would need up to his seventh year at Hogwarts. That is, if he stayed and completed the seven years. In his other life, he'd left after his sixth year to hunt down the Horcruxes. He also wanted some defences, healing, and potions books.

Upon seeing Harry making the list, Hermione started doing the same. He whispered in her ear that he would set up an owl order account for them, so they could get books even while they were at Hogwarts. Hermione had snickered conspiratorially with him, and had distracted the two adult females while Harry set up the account with the clerk.

Now, it was time for the final step, acquiring their wands from Ollivander. McGonagall led the way and opened the door for them, gesturing for the children to enter first.

Stepping into the shop, Harry felt magic crawling over him like ants crawling over his skin. He flinched involuntarily, but bravely stepped forward to allow Hermione to follow him. Moving forward into the shop, he could feel Ollivander's presence. He was standing disillusioned behind his counter. _'That old bugger, now I know how he surprises all the first years.'_ The bell rang as the door closed, and Ollivander appeared. His silver eyes stared at Harry in shocked amazement, flicked to Hermione behind him, and then back to Harry.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here? If I'm not mistaken... Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Harry Potter." His eyes tracked over Harry and to Hermione, wandering back and forth several times. "Miss Granger, I see that you are the first born of your line. Would you please step forward? Which hand is to be your wand hand?"

Stepping forward past Harry, Hermione ceased her fascinated study of the endless number of boxed wands.

"I am right handed," she said, in a stiff and very nervous tone.

"Right-handed? Good, good, now please hold still while I measure you."

Harry watched as the tape measured Hermione extensively before dropping to the floor. Ollivander had to try seven wands before a good match was found, but Hermione pronounced herself happy (actually, she was both amazed and dumbfounded at the feeling of the wand in her hand, and she let them all know so in an unambiguous fashion). Eventually, however, Ollivander's attention was fixed upon Harry. "Well, now, Mr. Potter. I can see that you are going to be something of a challenge."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward. "Before you begin, Master Ollivander, you should know that Harry made himself a wand to help bring his accidental magic under control."

Ollivander, who had looked away from Harry while McGonagall was talking, now fixed his gaze back to the young-but-old boy. His silver gaze, shocking in its intensity, pinned him to the floor. Eventually, the old man looked back to McGonagall.

"I can see no sign of a wand on him. His aura does make it difficult to see, however, so I could be mistaken." Returning his attention to Harry, he asked, "May I see this wand, Mr. Potter?"

Harry slipped the wand out of the forearm holster he had improvised some time ago, and which was now as much a part of his wardrobe as his underwear. Ollivander hesitated, and then took it with one hand. Holding it up to the light, he stared at it for a long moment before fixing Harry with his gaze.

"How did you make this?" he asked, his voice softer than usual.

"A strange bird visited me after my Uncle nearly killed me," Harry said neutrally.

He ignored the gasp from McGonagall and continued, "He left a feather behind after he healed me. That bird saved my life that day. I had been having a lot of trouble with accidentally turning people colours and things; that scared the Dursley's so they beat me to try to make me stop it. I had to do something to stop them; I was terrified that they would kill me eventually. When I touched the feather, it felt somewhat tingly, and I felt it drawing something from my hand. I do not know where I got the idea; I just somehow knew I could use the feather in some way. I decided that if I could do magic, then I must be a wizard like in the story books I had read. So, maybe I should have a magic wand. You cannot be a wizard without a wand. So I 'borrowed' a knife and a long drill bit from my uncle's workshop and found a stick that felt right, then I carved the stick so it had the right shape as in the books and used the drill to bore a hole down the middle. I put the feather into the hole and filled the hole with scraps from the carving." Harry looked at the wand in Ollivander's hand and took a breath before continuing.

"Don't really know why I put the feather inside the wand; it just somehow seemed to be the right thing to do." Harry looked at the wand again; he hated lying like this, but at the same time, he was congratulating himself with his story-telling skills.

"It took me a really long time to be able to use the wand, though. It did not feel like the feather at all really, just a stick of wood. But I kept trying and eventually I was able to get it to do things." He shrugged, frowning in confusion, not at the only partly true story he had told, but why it had taken so long for the wand to start obeying him.

"At least I stopped turning people's skin green."

He looked up to see Ollivander exchanging what he could only class as a significant glance with McGonagall. The Professor knelt down so that she could look him in the eye and put one hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Did you say that the Dursleys abused you? What did you mean by that?"

Harry shrugged disingenuously, although inside he was leaping with glee at the thought of rather belated revenge on his relatives.

"The usual, you know. They'd lock me in my cupboard, not feed me, Uncle Vernon would hit me with a work belt, I'm not really sure how many times he did that, I only knew how to count to ten then; I transfigured the belt once, which really was not a good idea. His fists hurt a lot more than the belt. It's really quite amazing how fast magic can heal fractures actually, though that tends to really piss people off when they are actively trying to break something and you just keep healing yourself. Anyway, they stopped with the really bad stuff after you and that man Dumbledore visited."

McGonagall's eyes went wide in shock, but she quickly schooled her expression back to neutrality. "I see, well I'm glad that it stopped as a result of our visit, Harry. So things have been better, then?"

"Sure, they keep asking me to call them mum and dad now, but it feels odd so I won't. They still smacked me around a bit after that, but they eventually stopped. Dudders and I get on okay, though we are not really friends. I'm actually not home long enough for them to bother me; I come in at night and leave in the mornings before they wake up. Anyway I am not hungry so often anymore. Once I managed to get that stupid wand to work, I made my cupboard much more comfortable, the wand is really useful to warm the place up. It can get really cold down there in winter."

In actual fact Harry's cupboard was kind of the biggest room in the house. He expanded it so that it was kind of like a combination between his old Gryffindor dorm and the common room. He also had a space to practice spells and recently he created a place where he would set up his potions lab. He also transfigured the furniture to be comfortable and decorated it in blue and bronze. When he'd decorated his room, he'd wanted to get away from the stereotypical Gryffindor colours. Harry did not want them to know about his room modifications, a simple warming charm is nothing compared to the major high level magic he'd preformed on his room. Not to mention the illusion and muggle repelling charms he'd put on the door.

"The cupboard...?"

"The cupboard under the stairs, it's my room," he said with a shy smile. He saw something pass across McGonagall's face. She stood up once more and smiled down at him.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I knew when we greeted that you were something extraordinary, but you surprise me greatly even so." She looked to Ollivander. "Mr. Ollivander, can you tell Harry why he had difficulty with his wand? It was not just a case of his magical core not yet being ready to connect with a wand, was it?"

Ollivander shook his head. "No, not at all. It is two things. Firstly, young Mr. Potter is not a wand maker and does not know of the charms that must be used to promote the conductivity of a wand. But more importantly, Mr. Potter, were the tools made of steel, as most Muggle tools are?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then that is the second reason; cold iron prohibits magic. Although steel is not cold iron, it is sufficiently similar that it interferes with delicate magical devices such as this wand you made. You did not sand the wand, did you?"

"What's that?" asked Harry, feigning ignorance. He could have kicked himself for his own stupidity, he knew that iron did that to magic, but he'd forgotten when he really needed to remember_. 'Ah well, maybe it was not such a bad blunder.' _He would never have discovered his other magical talents, if he did not try it out while he had tried to get the wand to work. He had become very good at changing his appearance over the past few years. However, he only managed to transform into his Animagus form the previous year.

"I thought not. Well, Mr. Potter, the steel tools effectively put an anti-magic coating on the wand wherever they cut it. While you could have used bronze or stone tools, such tools are not available in the Muggle world. Therefore, by using the knife to shape the wand, and the drill to hollow it out, there were two layers of a mild anti-magic coating between you and the feather. So not only were you trying to use a wand when normally you would be too young to do so, and not only did that wand lack the normal magical treatments which make it much, much more efficient than the simple combination of its materials, but you had to fight through the effect of the iron tools as well. It is safe to assume that you will be an extremely powerful wizard one day."

Understanding came to Harry, and he had to fight to keep his expression to only what he believed was appropriate. He knew what he would be capable of one day and he was once again annoyed at his stupid child body.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I guess I need a new wand, then?"

Ollivander nodded. "Yes, you do. However, there is a problem. You have been using this wand, flawed as it is, for several years now?"

"Yes sir; since I was five, but I only really got it to work when I was six."

"Your magical channels have been set then to use the materials of this wand, and yet they have not, since it is not a true wand. I do have a wand made of holly wood with a feather from... yes; I believe it is the same bird that donated this one to you. But I wonder..." He looked thoughtful for a long moment, and Harry could almost feel the tension in the air as the old man thought. "Yes, I think... just a moment." With that, he slipped behind the counter once more and stepped back amongst the ceiling-high shelves. His long fingers flicked over the jumbled ends of the boxes stacked haphazardly therein, and sunlight flooding in from high windows at the rear of the shop, making the dust that rose from the boxes sparkle brightly. Then, with an "Ah!" of triumph, Ollivander drew out one particular box and brought it reverently to the counter. He opened the box and lifted out the dark, polished wand that lay within. "Take this and tell me what you feel," he said.

Harry took the wand by its grip and waited for the rush of light and power through his being that he remembered so well from he previous visit to Ollivander's. However, it did not happen that way; the flow felt choked, wrong. Frowning, he said, "It feels warm, but rather odd. It is not very comfortable. Do you know what I mean?" _' What was going on here, why didn't his wand respond to him, he needed this wand, it was Voldemort's brother wand, this wand saved is live in that graveyard and on countless other occasions, Why did not it work?_' he thought in a panic.

Ollivander nodded. "As I thought. Well, Mr. Potter needs must! Please stand back a little, and do not interrupt me."

A little nervous, Harry backed up until he bumped into Hermione. Something made him grab her hand as she looked over his shoulder. For some reason he needed the comfort and being so close to his 'old' friend just made him instinctually reach out. Both children were fascinated as they watched Ollivander work.

Stepping back from the bench, Ollivander drew his own wand and a moment later the door locked and blinds dropped with a noisy clatter. Then, a shimmering shield appeared over the workbench and both Harry's wand and the new wand levitated into its centre. Moving very precisely, Ollivander made Harry's old wand split lengthways in half, releasing the feather within. Allowing the old wand to drop to the counter, he did something that made it rest against the new wand. Something encapsulated the old feather in a glowing, golden cylinder of light, as narrow as the lead of a pencil. For a long moment, nothing appeared to change, and Harry wondered what was going to happen next, but then the glowing cylinder sank into the surface of the new wand. Stunned, Harry glanced at Ollivander and was shocked to see that his silver eyes were positively glowing and that sweat stood trembling on his brow.

Then, suddenly, it was done. With a giant explosion of breath, Ollivander slumped down, catching himself on the counter with his hands and breathing deeply. The shield disappeared and the wand fell into the box with an odd sort of subdued clatter. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, knowing that they had seen something truly extraordinary.

Looking back at Ollivander, he was now standing upright, looking as cool and unflappable as when Harry had entered the shop. He picked up the wand and offered it to Harry with a smile.

"Well, Mr. Potter, why don't you try it this time?"

Nervously, Harry reached forward to take the wand. For a long moment, he could not make himself close his hand, but gathering his Gryffindor courage, he made himself grasp the wand firmly.

This time, he felt the light. This time, he felt the warmth and power that rushed through him like a river, making him feel rather like a fire hose – limp canvas that nevertheless contained a surging torrent under pressure. Another odd thing that happened was the sudden phoenix song he heard in his head. '_This feels even better than my old wand, in my other life, and that wand was an extremely good match to me.'_

Then, the moment passed. For a long moment, he stared at the wand, memorizing its shape anew. But something made him look up and he saw Ollivander rubbing his eyes. Looking around, McGonagall was smiling at him broadly and Mrs. Granger was staring in awe (although he felt that was more from Ollivander's display than his own).

"It feels wonderful, sir," he said still in amazed shock. _'Could this wand really be mine?' _It was the best feeling ever, just holding it. "How much do I owe you?"

Ollivander glanced to McGonagall, who nodded slightly.

"Oh no Mr. Potter, I could not possibly charge you for a wand like this. I think we can expect great things from you, Mr. Potter, great things. However, listen well to me. You must never even hint to others that your wand has two phoenix feathers. It would be very bad for both you and me if it were to become known. They cannot be discovered through chance, since they are now merged and appear as one. So you must keep this secret for both our sakes."

Harry frowned. "Of course sir, if you say so. But why? What is so terrible?"

"It is against the law, Mr. Potter. It is as simple as that," said Professor McGonagall. "You will no doubt learn why in your History of Magic class some time in the latter half of your school career at Hogwarts, but for now, simply accept that this must remain a secret from everyone."

Harry did have six years of magical education at Hogwarts, but he could not remember ever learning about this. Then again, he never really paid attention in that class, his owl results was proof enough of that. Even if he had not had that dream in the test, he doubted if he would have done any better.

"Do you swear to keep this secret, to keep it safe?" Gulping, Harry recognized a formal oath. "I swear."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thanks for **reviewing**

Twin Tails Speed, Dnic5, sugarplumfairy05, Weasel Debater, Lurker2345, hpnut1, yrl, Chrispy1000000, Blossom1098, the-dreamer4, Arimiel, Heavenly Dancer, bolko7, gypsysoul,

This was the mandatory, overused and totally cliché shopping trip, sorry about it but every boy must stock up on his toys. In the next chapter Harry will return to the ally under a disguise to buy some special items… so keep reading to find out what he will get up to next.

As for Harry suddenly revealing things that happened at the Dursleys. Now that he has rejoined the magical world he does not need to hide his magic in his cupboard. He could not care less if he stays there or not. He realized Dumbledore will probably force him to stay but does not care either.

I also know that any child that is really 11 would not talk like that about their abuse. Remember that Harry is not really 11 and that he has had a lot of years to deal with it and compared with his other experiences it was not that bad (only comparatively, abuse is never ok or not so bad.). He has lived through a horrible war and seen a lot so his childhood memories do not bother him as much as all the death and destruction he has witness and been part of.

REVIEW!!!!!REVIEW!!!!!REVIEW!!!!!

**Amberile 8-).**


	6. Knockturn Aley, snakes and confrontation

**Fight against Fate**

Summary: This is the story about Harry's desperate fight against Fate to save his friends and this new world he is in after time travel.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

My dear Elanor Blackrose this chapter is dedicated to you. _Dankie my drakie_. B-)

Thanks again to my ever ready Beta** Weasel Debater you're the greatest !!!!!!**

**Chapter 5 Knockturn Alley, snakes and confrontation.**

Harry Potter was exhausted by the time he returned home from Diagon Alley. His uncle picked him up after he got all of his stuff and they had a very uncomfortable two hour drive back home _'Why couldn't I just apperate home.'_ He thought knowing as he did that he needed a license and that he wasn't even suppose to know about it yet, never mind doing it.

Mostly, however, he was exhausted because of his "act" today; it was more difficult than he had initially though. He would have to take a time and think of all the people he would meet again and how he would react to them. It would no do for a first year to use unforgivable curses on teachers and fellow students. Quirrel, Snape, Malfoy, Pettigrew… the list went on and on. He would also have to decide how to deal with Dumbledore and meeting his old friends, Neville, Ron and Ginny. His Ginny. How would he cope with seeing her again? He really did not know. Eleven years was not enough to forget…

At the Leaky Cauldron, he and Hermione had made plans for the two of them to visit each other over the remainder of the summer. At that point, however, Mrs. Granger had stepped in and told them that she and Harry's Aunt Petunia should meet first. Unable to think of a way of dissuading her, Harry had given her the Dursley's telephone number.

Now, arriving at Number 4, Privet Drive Harry let himself in. Having closed the door quietly, he almost jumped in surprise to discover Aunt Petunia standing at the entrance to the kitchen like an evil gorgon, arms crossed and frowning deeply at him.

'I had a call from a Mrs. Granger earlier,' she said sternly.

Uncertain at the conflicting signals Aunt Petunia was sending, Harry just looked up at her. 'That's right,' he replied. 'She's my friend Hermione's mom. Mione is one of my friends from Wilbert Academy. Her parents are dentists, I think.'

Petunia looked at Harry oddly. For a moment, he had sounded almost adult, even more so than usual. 'The Grangers live not far from the train line. If I allow you to visit them, do you think you can keep yourself out of trouble?'

'Yes, Aunt Petunia.'

'Good. Then you may visit whenever you wish, provided you always let me know where you are. However, you may not invite the Grangers here without first discussing it with your uncle and myself. Am I quite clear?'

'Yes, Aunt Petunia. Thank you.'

'Mrs. Granger said that you may visit on Friday if you wish, and she can meet you at the train station as long as you get there by half past eight. Apparently Hermione is eager to begin reviewing the school textbooks.'

A smile broke out on Harry's face, and Petunia felt herself lifted a little by its brightness and simplicity despite the boy's unnatural powers. 'Yes, please!' he said.

'Good. You will need to catch the seven-forty-six train.' Petunia turned to call the Grangers back. She was happy that the boy, her foster son, had made a friend – he would be leaving all the things he knew behind. And besides, it would keep him out of the house a bit more, so there would be less chance he could infect Dudley with his powers or knowledge or his occasional weird otherness.

The boy, for all that he was like a son to her, was even stranger than her sister had been. She was only glad that Dudley had not shown any sign of that thrice-damned, eternally cursed magic.

---------------------------------------

Harry Potter stretched out in the couch that sat in front of the fireplace in his somewhat expanded and redecorated cupboard beneath the stairs. It had been this way ever since he had finally managed to get coherent and decently powerful magic out of his old wand. But now...

But now, what? He held up his new wand before his eyes, looking it over. It was his old wand, his original wand from before his return, that was certain. And yet, it was not. When he held this wand, he felt a warmth, a connection that he had never felt before, either in this life or in his memory of the last. He could feel the magic, as though he stood before an enormous wall of water barely restrained, trembling to be released. He remembered the feeling at Olliavander's, the feeling of a flood torrent just barely contained. Now that he thought of it, he also remembered Ollivander himself squinting and blinking, as though a bright light had been shone into his eyes.

Clearly, Ollivander could see magic, or at least auras. Just as clearly, McGonagall could not. He was glad that he could read auras but wondered how different it was to see magic.

With a sigh, Harry went to slip the wand into his wrist holster, making a mental note as he did so to purchase a proper dragon hide holster at the earliest opportunity. He thought forward to the remaining four weeks of the holiday before he would once more go to Hogwarts.

The next four weeks. He had a lot to accomplish in that time. Starting with tonight and his return to Diagon Alley. He would also have to make a trip down Knockturn Alley; there were specialized items you could only find there.

He would also spend some time with Hermione. She was much more childish than he remembered the old Hermione but he was used to it by now. He had found that he himself reacted childishly in some ways too; he supposed that his reactions were partly his experience and partly caused by his body.

Four weeks! In four weeks, he would be at Hogwarts. In four weeks, he would be at the place he loved and hated the most. In four weeks he would see everything and everyone he ever held dear. Everyone that is, except for Sirius.

**No!** No, he would not allow the imprisonment of Sirius to go on any longer than it had to! And that meant revealing Pettigrew early, which in turn, threw out the whole timetable for the return of Voldemort. For without Pettigrew, who would perform the Dark Arts rituals that would create the homunculus that was the starting point for that ceremony at the end of the Triwizard Tournament?

With another sigh, Harry sat up. To act could totally change the time line, could he risk changing to much too soon. He had been struggling with that question for the past ten years.

However, the cost of not acting was enormous. He had forced himself to not think about his godfather rotting in Azkaban for the past ten years, since he had not been able to do anything about it, but now that the time to meet Pettigrew was close he could hardly bear to wait.

For now, though, he would practise. He had to become used to his new wand and bring it fully under his control lest he scare his classmates. Filled with nervous energy, he had to do something, and so why not do something useful?

Looking at the clock on the wall he realized that it would already be dark outside. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he did not even realize how the time had flown.

With that, he changed his appearance so he would look older, he could not manage to become an adult yet, but he looked at least like a fifth year student. He also grew his hair to shoulder length and made it brown. He also changed the colour of his eyes to brown. People were less likely to remember someone with that appearance than someone with white or red hair, the same counted for the eye colour, blue or green like his own, would be too prominent. He made sure his scar did not show. All those years of practising his metamorpmagus skills finally paid off. Clothes were another problem. He could not transfigure his own, now that he had a wand with a monitoring charm on. That was one of the reasons he needed to visit Knockturn Alley, to have it removed. He would just have to settle with his uncle's old stuff. Luckily, he did not throw it out when he "redid" his room. The clothes where way to big and Harry had to change himself into someone fatter so it would fit better. One thing was sure, no one, and I mean on one, would recognise him like this, even if his scar did show. Which it did not, he did not want to tempt Fate. She could be a right spiteful bitch if she wanted to be.

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He really wanted to apperate but he knew he could no risk it. He had not done it in ten years and did not know if he even would be able to do it with this body. Maybe there was an age restriction for a reason. He really did not fancy the idea of getting splinched. When he was sure the Dursleys were asleep he quickly snuck out the door and started walking away. He knew Dumbledore monitored the house so he could not risk summoning the bus there. Harry walked till he got to Magnolia Crescent. This was the place Harry accidentally summoned the bus the first time in his previous life. Harry smiled as he though back to that day, Marge did look funny, though he was to upset and angry at that moment to realize that. Thinking that happy thought he pulled out his wand and summoned the Knight bus.

With a deafening BANG the triple-decker, purple bus appeared. Just like in his other life the conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and said. 'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard!' Harry stepped onboard and paid the eleven sickles to get to the Ally. Luckily, there weren't other passengers on the bus this time, so they went directly to London.

Harry quickly entered the pub and went directly to the back tapping the right stones to enter the alley. He did not want to draw any attention to himself. As he walked he realised how awkward it was to be that fat, he really was not used to it. Right there he made a promise to him self to keep up with his workout routine at Hogwarts. He never wanted to become this fat. He also did not want to revert into the little scrawny thing he was in his other life. He had learned a lot about getting and staying in shape in the War camps. The Americans especially thought it important to be fit. They where almost fanatic about it, always busy with some kind of training. Most wizards scorned physical exertion and only focused on casting spells. Seeing the American hit wizards in action soon convinced Harry of the advantages of being fit and the knowledge of how to use muggel fighting techniques in hand to hand combat. That was why he was extremely grateful for meeting Master Li, he had learned so much from him and he knew he would use all of those skills in the war that would eventually come.

Maybe he should buy himself a knife. He owned a really good knife in his other life and it was really useful, but his arms were too small to strap one onto like he use to do. Also, he also did not think it was allowed for students to have weapons in their possession. That was too bad because he planed to take a few with him. Not that wands were not dangerous. He would just have to hide all his weapons in his trunk until he was able to wear them.

Harry turned down Knockturn Alley and went straight to Borgins & Burkes. '_If there where anyone who knew how to remove the ministry monitoring charm, it would be Mr Borgin._' Harry entered the shop and was not surprised to see that it looked exactly as it did when he had that floo accident, in his second year. The glass case near the counter still held a withered hand, there also were a blood-stained pack of cards and a staring glass eye. Evil-looking masks leered down from the walls and there were also an assortment of human bones on the rusty counter. Harry recognised the withered hand as the hand of glory. Draco used it in the sixth year during the first Hogwarts attack. He did not plan on buying stuff like this but decided that he would. At least then he knew Draco or any other Death Eater could not use it against him. He would also have to buy that Cabinet they used to get into the castle. There were no one attending the shop at the moment and Harry started to browse a bit. He came across the opal necklace that nearly killed Katie. He immediately added that to his list of things to buy.

'Can I help you young sir?' A man that appeared behind the counter asked. This sudden voice almost startled Harry but he managed to keep his cool.

'I really hope so; a friend of mine told me that you might know of a way to remove the monitoring charm on my wand. I really need to study and practise without ministry interference, if you know what I mean?'

'I do indeed, might I ask who this friend is?' The suspicious Borgin asked.

'I though you knew better than to ask Mr. Borgin.' Harry answered with a slight grimace.

'Right you are, is that all you require or…?'

'You have very interesting merchandise; I would like to look at your collection of books?'

'As you can see sir, I don't have any books.'

'Come now Mr Borgin we both know of what kind of books I'm talking about.' Harry answered in an annoyed tone. Inside his mind was screaming that he was playing a dangerous game, he really did not know if there were any books in this shop.

'I can see that your friend is very well informed, only my most loyal customers know of my private collection, but it will cost you to become part of our little club.' Borgin answered with a smile.

'I can assure you that money isn't an option.' Harry replied with a calm he did not feel inside. '_That club is no doubt, a bunch of Death Eaters_.'

'Very well, follow me to the back.' The man said as he left the room. As Harry entered the back room he saw Borgin say an incantation that opened a trap door in the floor. He followed him down the stairs, excited and nervous at the same time.

Harry was not prepared for what he found down there. He expected to find a small room with a few books and rare items. What he found was a room lager than the shop above. All along one of the walls were shelves stacked with books that Harry knew even the restricted section of the Hogwarts library did not have. '_This is wonderful!! However, dreadful at the same time.' _Harry particularly did not like learning dark arts, after all he was trying to fight it, but he knew you had to know your enemy. '_You have to recognise their plans, their skills. You have to know all their dirty little tricks and be willing to fight almost as dirty as they did. If only I had access to these books in my other life I would not have had to learn it the hard way through practical experience and torture.'_ Harry could not believe his luck.

He did not know were to begin so he just started at one end and worked his way through to the other end. Borgin left Harry alone after awhile, seeing that he had no intention to just skim over the merchandise. He knew a serious customer when he saw one, it did not matter that this one was still in school as long as he got paid he really did not care. Harry found books on Legilimency, unforgivable curses of other countries, illegal potions, and some very nasty curses and hexes. The most important book however was on how to create horcruxes. Harry reckoned if he knew how the darn stuff were created it would be easier to destroy them. He had a very difficult time the first time round and if there were a simpler way, he wanted to know. He also found a very handy book on shield and blocking charms, this was not really a dark book but maybe because the curses against which the shields were affective were also listed it could be classified as one.

In the end Harry left with about thirty books on the dark arts, the hand of Glory, the opal necklace and the cabinet. He also found a dagger that were almost exactly like the one he used to own, it did not have nasty charms or poison on it. Its sole purpose was to cut. Harry recon it was between Borgin's stuff because cuts cause by this blade could not be healed by magical means, they had to heal the muggel way. Harry shrunk it all down to the size of a matchbox after Borgin took the monitoring spell of his wand. It took him longer than he planed to make his purchases, he had spent nearly three hours in there, but he reckoned it was all worth it in the end.

His next stop were the apothecary of Knockturn Alley, they had some potions ingredients that the one in Diagon Ally did not have. He did not get everything he needed. The normal ingredients he would order by owl, he only wanted the ingredients of questionable nature that could not be ordered by normal means.

On his way out of the Alley he passed by a pet shop. This store did not have the normal, cat and owl selection. No, they had a more exotic variety. There were a grindelow in a tank in the back, other tanks held spiders and poisonous frogs. Harry really did not know why he entered this shop; he did not need anything in this store. He just knew it was right for him to be there. He looked cautiously around him, searching for the thing that called him there. Then he saw the most curious thing he had ever seen in his life, a snake in Gryffindor colours. It was not a big snake, infact as snakes go this one was miniature. Small enough to fit in Harry's hand palm. Its scales were crimson and gold. The little snake lifted its tiny head and hissed 'sssPleassess helpss me, ssavess me sss'

Harry was astounded, what could he do for the little creature. He did not want to blow his cover but he was intrigued by this little thing. 'How can I help?' Harry hiss back in Parseltongue.

'sssYour a sss light Wizzzzard sss, buy me sss. sss I don't wantsss to be usssed by dark wizzzards to do darksss deedsss. Sssavess me ss,' it hissed back. This surprised Harry a lot he always thought of snakes as evil creatures, but considering his experience with them, no one could blame him. Although that snake in the zoo was also a pleasant chap.

'Will you be a good snake and listen to me and not bite me or my friends?' he asked.

'We ssssnakesss are not goodsss nor evilsss, we are almosssst alwaysss neutral, it issss what you humanssss do to and with usss that makesss usss ether way, but I wouldsss dearly likesss to be goodssss, I don't wantsss to be a bad sssnakessss,' it answered.

'Then it's settled you are a good snake and you did not need a human to make you so, you made that choice yourself. I will buy you but will not be your master, if you are smart enough to make that decision you are smart enough to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. If you like you could stay with me as a friend but you are free to leave when and if you please.' Harry replied.

'Youss are a very ssstrangess wizzard, but I thanksss yousss.'

With that, Harry picked the little thing up out of its tank and walked to the till. The old hag behind the counter nearly freaked out. 'Do you know how poisonous that thing is? It was in a closed tank for a reason.'

'I want to buy it.' Harry said ignoring the woman's rambling. She eyed him suspiciously but rang him up nonetheless. He paid and quickly left the shop.

It was almost light now and Harry still needed to buy the cauldrons, phials and a wand holster. He hurried to Diagon Ally and made his last purchases for the night. Harry bought two complete cauldron sets and one platinum cauldron that was not in a standard set, he did not know if he would need it but he had enough money and it was better to be prepared than to be sorry later on. Harry was also satisfied with his new Hungarian horntail wand holster; it was the same type that Aurors usedIn his other live Harry wanted to become an Auror, before the war started. Now Harry had enough of evil to last him ten lifetimes, his plan was simple kill Voldemort and then take a very long vacation away from people and magic. He was tired. Tired of the constant alertness, practising, and killing. Harry did not like killing people, even if they were Death Eaters. He thought he was done; he had killed almost all of them. He had destroyed all of the Horcruxes and only had Tom left. Then Fate played a cruel trick on him and now he had to do it all over again. He knew he should be grateful for the opportunity to save his friends… It was so hard to go on knowing what he would have to do. It really wasn't fair! All he ever wanted to be was a normal kid, but no. Fate decided to put him through this hell! **Twice!!**

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Harry made it to his cupboard just before the Dursleys woke up. He transformed back into his normal form. Glad to get rid of the bulk around his waist. He was exhausted. Lying on his bed he thought of all the things he did the previous night. '_It was really fun to be able to act like a grownup again. Playing the little clueless eleven year old is beginning to wear on me.' _He wanted to go out and destroy the Horcruxes. Unfortunately, he had to wait, at least until his second year. Once he had the diary he knew where al the rest of them were. He had to preserve the time line until he could destroy that little book. With that, though he fell asleep.

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Harry slept for the most of the morning but woke up because of an insistent hissing in his ear. At first, he had no idea what could make that noise but as he became more awake he remember the snake he bought. He sat up wiping the sleep out of his eyes and then put his glasses on. The snake sat on his bed side cabinet. 'Wheresss am Isss and whosss are yousss?' it asked.

For a moment, Harry was confused at these questions and then he understood. 'I am Harry Potter,' he answered. 'This is my room.'

'Wheress the guy thatss freedsss me?'

'Oh, that was me, I just looked different.' The little snake looked puzzled at this answer so Harry had to change back to that appearance to explain. When he was back to normal the snake said.

'I didn'tsss know yousss were ssso young, you sssounded a lot older and wissser than youss aress.' Harry just laughed at this remark. 'How clever of you to notice.'

'Whatsss do youss mean by that sss?'

Harry just chuckled again. 'I'll tell you later but first, we haven't been introduced properly. What is your name?'

'sss I do not havesss a name,' it hissed back.

'Well then you will just have to choose one, you can't be a free and independent snake without a name. I really want to know what to call my new friend.' Harry replied

'I sss will letsss you know when I sss decided friendssss.'

Now that Harry was awake, there was no point in lazing about. He had a lot to do in his last free month before Hogwarts. The first thing he did was to send Hedwig off with the order forms for the supplies and books he wanted. While he waited for his stuff to arrive he started working through his first year text books. His mind could remember all the spells and how to do it but he had to teach his body how to do the correct movements all over again. He also had to get used to his new wand and how to channel his magic correctly through it. This one was a lot more powerful than his old ones. Both in this and his old life. He had real difficulty controlling its power. He would have to be really careful, he could hurt someone or himself really badly if he lost control. There was just one thin he could do; practise, practise, practise!!!

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The next morning Harry was awake bright and early in anticipation of seeing Hermione. Although he had a relatively dreamless night he was so used to getting up early that he awoke at his normal time. He meditated for about half an hour and worked on his Occlumency. He had really improved over the years and was sure he would be able to keep someone out.

By way of burning off energy and to help bring his new wand under control, he took advantage of the fact that it was still really early and that he was alone. He did not want to practice advanced spells with his new wand in his room. He had spent a lot of time decorating it like it was now, he did not want to risk blowing it all up because he lacked control. He decided to practise in the basement.

Standing in the centre of the room, Harry started by casting a Dudley-keep-away jinx on the door, before setting up the room. He transfigured all the walls to a mirror like substance that was spell damage proof and would rebound spell. He found a box of matches and transfigured them into daggers. One he transfigured one into a sword and another into a staff. He then conjured soft gymnastic mats so he would not hurt himself if he fell.

He looked around the room satisfied with his work. It was five o'clock he still had lots of time to kill. It was time to play. He took up his staff and walked to the centre of the room. He levitated all of the daggers around him; he then spelled them to randomly launch themselves at him. He then fired a few stinging hexes at different places at the walls around the room. Soon he was dodging hexes and daggers from all angels. He used his body magic to increase his speed and agility. Harry had to use all the skills he had learned from Master Li not to be injured.

He snickered as he transfigured some of the projectiles into daisies. All the while maintaining his shield and avoiding rebounded spells.

When he got bored, he summoned his sword and transfigured the remaining daggers into fruit that he sliced into fine pieces. He never dropped the fruit onto the ground they stayed flouting around him.

Harry laugh at his new method to make fruit salad, he wondered what his aunt would say if she knew how he had made it and that it was actually matches. As the transfigured his staff into a bowl and flouted all the fruit into it he heard applause come from the stairs. Harry jumped his heart racing.

It was Dumbledore.

The blood racing through his veins froze at the sight. Harry had six years experience with the headmaster of Hogwarts, and although kindly and powerful and grandfatherly, and very thoroughly good, the old man could also be ruthless and was wisest and most powerful wizard in the world. Dumbledore was also well used to getting his own way and keeping his own counsel. He was good and on the side of light, but he was also stunningly dangerous. '_How did he know that I was busy with magic anyway, interfering old Bastard!'_ He suddenly remembered that the basement was not warded like his room, he cursed his stupidity. At the same time, he was thinking how much he missed his old mentor and wanted to do nothing more than to run over and hug the old man. Yet he also wanted to pound or hex him for his stupidity to trust that slime boll Snape. '_Dumbledore left me, left me when he needed him most_. _I wasn't prepared for what was expected of me, how could I have been? I was only sixteen then_.' So much of his most wonderful and also his absolute worst experiences could be traced directly to this man in front of him. '_If he didn't die on that day… if only he told me sooner… If only he trusted in me more…' _Harry though he had made peace with that part of his life a long time ago, but seeing this man standing in front of him, like that, he realised he hadn't. '_And in this life he abandoned me again. I needed him so much, but he left me here. He saw what they did to me, and he left me!!!' _

All this flashed though Harry's mind, it took him a long moment to try and get himself under control. '**_Curse this young body!!!'_** He could not maintain his calm the way he wanted to, no matter how much he tried. He took another moment to realise that he was not supposed to recognise Dumbledore yet. His magic was starting to leak out of him and mirrors on the walls started to shudder. Harry knew if he did not do something quickly, things were going to start exploding. He really did not want that to happen. He had to channel the magic out of him in a save way. Harry did not want to reveal any of his special powers yet, but he really did not have a choice. If he lost control, things could get really dangerous. He knew that with his current power level he could easily make the whole house explode.

He grasped his magic and brought his wand up pointing it at Dumbledore.

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Albus Dumbledore looked up at the monitor, one of the mysterious silver devices that Harry would later destroy, in a different life, showed him a brief image of unprecedented wand activity. Fear started to touch his heart, could someone have breached his wards around young Harry's house. Strangely enough, it did not seem like dark magic so it could not be an attack on the house. He would have to go and investigate.

At that moment Minerva McGonagall gave the password to his office. He wondered what she wanted, he really needed to go and see what was up at Harry's residence. Gesturing, he caused his office door to open and waited for his deputy to arrive.

'Please come in, Minerva. What can I do for you?' Minerva opened her mouth to speak but seeing the headmasters anxious face decided to ask 'Albus what is wrong?'

'I don't truthfully know.' he answered gesturing at the silver instruments. His answer surprised her. Dumbledore always knew what was going on, it was almost unthinkable that he would admit ignorance.

'Underage magic, or something more serious?' she asked tensely.

'Underage magic, I hope.' Albus frowned, puzzled. 'But why haven't the ministry sent me a letter yet?'

'But they don't usually bother with children waiting to start here for their first year. It's quite common for them to try out their new wands, especially the muggle-raised like Harry. Why would they send us a letter concerning him?' McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore laughed. 'Harry,' he said, his tone of voice implying unlike a normal child, 'Has spent most of the night working his way through the bulk of the Charms syllabus of first year, and is currently performing numerous high-level transfiguration and animation charms.'

For the first time in just about as long as he could remember, Albus Dumbledore was dumbfounded. A pre-first-year? Even those who were intensively home-schooled as happened in some Pureblood families could not do that. There was a reason why Hogwarts did not admit children before the age of eleven, before then most children could not actually use a wand; their magic was insufficiently developed.

'I know I usually deal with any over-enthusiastic first-years, but...'

'Yes, yes, thanks for understanding, Minerva. I'll go and have a word with young Harry now.' He snatched up his ruler and tapped it with his wand, visualising the destination as the lounge room of Harry Potter's home. _'Portus!_ Would you like to come, Minerva? After all, he knows you after his visit to Diagon Alley.'

'I will come if you think it best, Albus...' He looked up at Minerva surprised. Her tone was clearly reluctant.

'Is there something I should know about Harry Potter, Minerva?' he asked in a puzzled tone.

'Yes, but you'll find out when you visit him. I could tell you about it if you wished, but wouldn't you rather get there and catch him red-handed, so to speak?'

Albus could not help but feel that there was something very odd going on here. Still, Minerva had a point. A child, like a puppy, reacted better if caught in the act of wrong-doing. So he nodded and tapped the freshly-made portkey with his wand.

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The Dursleys' lounge room had not changed noticeably in the six years since he had last been here. Had it truly been six years? It seemed it was only yesterday when he had been forced to come here and perform a number of regrettable actions to ensure Harry's safety in his only viable refuge from the forces of Darkness.

The feel of active magic came from the basement, and he stepped lightly into the hallway and stood at its end, looking down the stairs. He wondered why the boy was down there and what he could possibly be up to.

He walked a bit down the stairs so he could see what was going on. He found a young boy, who was undoubtedly Harry Potter, orchestrating the final stages of an extreme combat exercise. Controlling all components with great flair and excellence. Visibly enjoying chopping up the fruit and making a salad. It was a display of control he would have applauded in an adult, but in an eleven-year-old child? It was unheard-of. Not even the Aurors were expected to have that much control.

With a flourish, Harry finished the display, and Albus applauded. The boy spun to face him, visibly shocked. For a long moment Harry stood there, apparently stunned, emotions flickering across his face. Interestingly, he could sense nothing of Harry's actual feelings during this time. He could feel the magical discharge even before the mirrors started to shudder, he knew what was going to happen next and prepared a shield charm for when the inevitable explosion came. He had worked long enough with young magical children and knew what would happen with such an emotional magical build up. There was nothing he could do except repair the damage afterwards.

To his surprise, Harry's wand came up to point at his chest. He appeared to be deciding what to do. This assumption struck him as odd. Children in such an emotional upheaval could not think straight, never mind make decisions about their actions. He braced himself for what was to come. But it did not happen.

Young Harry had a look of utmost concentration on his face. Slowly, very slowly his hair started to grow longer and longer. Then it started to change colour first it was a violent purple then blue and finally bright red. Still it grew till I was almost at his waist. Dumbledore could sense the magical energy in the air lessen and when it was almost gone the boy turned his appearance back to normal.

He was stunned looking at this boy, wand still raised at him. How on earth did he manage to control that? Realising that Harry could not possibly recognise him, he decided to introduce himself before Harry got into actual trouble with the Ministry by casting a hex or jinx.

'Harry, I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' he said. He was relieved to see Harry lower his wand, although he didn't put it away.

'I know.' said Harry politely. 'What can I do for you?'

He did not expect that reply. Actually, he did not expect any of the events he so far witnessed.

Seeing the puzzled expression on the old man's face Harry was torn between telling him the truth or sticking to his plan of secrecy. In the end his plan won out. He had spent too much time on it over the past ten years to change it now. He decided to be mean, besides he really was angry with Dumbledore. 'I remember.' was all he said.

Those two words shocked Dumbledore to his core, how could this be possible. Young Harry was only four when he last visited this place, even without a memory charm he was not suppose to remember him. He was absolutely speechless at that moment.

Dumbledore's lack of response broke the dam wall anew in Harry. 'How could you just leave me here? I tried so hard! Do you know how difficult it is to do permanent magic when you are four? But you left me here! After all my efforts to get your attention, you still let me rot in this **_hell_!** You saw what they did to me and you just left!?'

Dumbledore could not understand what this boy was saying, it just did not make sense to him, but the boy rambled on tears now staining his cheeks.

'On that day almost all my hope died. You would leave me here to die! Well I guess it doesn't matter really, I died emotionally a long time ago, what does this empty body matter?'

'Harry, I didn't just leave you. I really do care. I put a spell on them so they would take better care for you.' Dumbledore answered. His heart breaking for how much pain and torment this boy in front of him was in. What made it worse was that Harry seemed to blame him for it. He did not quite know what was going on here but he knew he wanted to fix it. He wanted to wipe away all this pain.

'Well it didn't work. They still abused me and then insisted that I call them mommy and daddy. Do you know how that feels!? It is an insult to my parents' names. On the day that you left me here, I learned an important lesson, a lesson that I should have learned a long, long time ago, but unfortunately forgot. I should take care of myself. There is no one else I can or should depend on. If I am to survive I should stop wasting time and start preparing for the inevitable.' Harry realised at that moment that he was not acting anymore and that he should be more careful of what he said. He needed to calm down he could not lose it now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. All those meditation books he read when he was younger, and all the hours spend in his room and with Master Li meditating had really helped him now. His breath became steadier and he could focus again. Completely calm he opened his eyes and said. 'I'm sorry for my horrible behaviour; I didn't intend to lose it like that. You must be here for a reason, other than dealing with an emotional child.'

Dumbledore could not believe the sudden change that came over the boy. He actually preferred the hysteric boy; at least he knew how to deal with him. This unnaturally calm expressionless boy scared him a bit. Could this spiking of power and emotions be a result of that curse that rebounded al those years ago. He knew it would affect the boy, but could it be this bad? He realised then and there that he should keep a closer eye on Harry Potter from now on. Collecting his thought he answered the boy.

'I came to tell you about the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, Harry. In short, children are not permitted to perform magic outside school until they turn seventeen.'

Harry looked up at him, frowning. 'Really?'

Feeling the need to explain a little more, Albus added, 'Normally we don't need to tell students about it until they go home for the first time after attending school, but in your case that option doesn't exist. For you have been performing magic of a scale completely unexpected for a child yet to come to Hogwarts.'

Albus was a little surprised to see Harry sigh, almost in defeat. The boy looked around, nodded to himself and stepped towards the doorway. Waving his wand he turned everything back the way it was before his morning exercise, except the salad he flouted the bowl over to him. Ignoring the strict glance the headmaster was giving him.

'My relatives are getting up and Dudley doesn't know about magic. I will keep it to my room from now on.'

'I don't think you understand Harry, your not to use magic at all.' Dumbledore tried to explain.

'I know, but I need to practise and I doubt if anybody is going to see anything in my cupboard. Just ignore those puffs of smoke for the next month and I will be a good little boy when term starts. Oh and don't worry about the ministry, they won't know of a thing.' Harry answered calmly.

'What do you mean by they will not notice and how do you know about my private monitors?' Dumbledore ask calmly but inside he was a very worried man, how much of Voldemorts evil transported into this poor innocent boy?

'You really should not drop your mental shields when you are around children, they might just be able to do the unexpected.' Harry answered meanly. He had not mastered Legilimency yet, but there was no harm in letting the headmaster think that he had. At this moment he was feeling very spiteful.

Then suddenly Harry could feel the light touch of Dumbledore's own Legilimency probing his mind. Immediately he reinforced his own occlomatic shields. There was no way that he would allow anybody inside his mind. Having Voldemort there in his other life was enough; he did not need others there also. He got a little bit angry again at this attempted intrusion.

'Don't ever try that again, it won't work anyway, unless you want to force your way in, which I doubt you'll do. Being "of the light" and all that crap.' Harry said coldly a warning clear in his voice.

'So sorry my boy, but you really intrigue me.' Dumbledore replied, surprised again at the level of this boy's skills and shocked at the coldness of his voice.

'Then would it not be better to ask me first, before you enter, not that I would consent, but still, it is only polite.' Harry snapped irritated, he did not like people messing with his mind.

'Well the same could be said about you.' Dumbledore said sternly. Harry smiled at that _'He really was a sharp old bugger, doesn't miss a thing.'_

'As nice as this little chat is, I really need to be somewhere in a while and I am afraid I might already be late, I really should be going.' Harry said looking at his watch.

'I guess you can find your way out seeing that you got in without an invitation. Tell me have you wizards ever heard of a thing called breaking and entering.' Harry said as he walked pass Dumbledore. Hearing no response from the old man, he said. 'Guest not, I would hate to see how screwed up your legal system is.'

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On the train to Hermione's a little later, Harry tried not to worry about having exposed himself to Dumbledore like that. '_I'm afraid I didn't give him a very good first impression. Stupid, stupid. This might cause problems later on. The guy probably thinks I'm some kind of unbalanced dark wizard now.'_

'_Oh well, the die was cast now.' _He could not obliviate the Headmaster; there was too much risk of the spell not working for any number of reasons. For now, he had to be an eleven-year-old. An abnormal eleven-year-old, but an eleven-year-old nonetheless. This was going to be hard, very hard.

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Mrs. Granger stood waiting for Harry's train. She was so happy that Hermione would not go to her new school alone and that her best friend Harry would be going with her. As far as she could remember, Hermione only talked about her friend Harry that meant she probably did not have any other friends. She knew her daughter was not a very social person and had difficulty making friends. And because of this she knew Harry must be a very special person to have broken through to her little girl to become such a close friend.

'_Ah, here comes the train now.'_ A surprising number of people pushed their way off before the waiting city-bound commuters surged onto the packed train. She stood back, out of the way of the hurrying people, and waited for Harry to make himself known.

And there he was, she saw, as the last of the adult commuters passed her as they made their way to the exit. She stepped towards him, curving to meet him as they both made for the exit.

'Good morning, Mrs Granger,' said Harry with a happy smile. She returned the smile, looking down at him.

'Good morning, Harry. I must say, Hermione is very eager to begin reading about... her school material.' She silently berated herself; she had almost said magic.

'It wouldn't surprise me if she spent all last night reading, I sure did.' Mrs. Granger suppressed a giggle. He knew her girl all to well.

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Parts of this chapter is from the story Undo, Retry by Olafr. I give full credit to him.

"Evil Harry" hehehehe I'm so bad, poor Dumbles don't have a clue what is going on.

As my beta pointed out to me, the ministry monitor magic use by area. I like to think they are too lazy and incompetent to have a system that works efficiently so they took the easy way out and put a spel on all the wands at legitimate wand shops. So Harry can buy a second wand, if he wants to, at a shady place without worrying for it to be tracks. It also made it necessary to go out and remove the charm. Anyway it worked for me that way and I had fun writing this chapter. Anyway that's why the ministry could not detect Harry doing magic all those years. He did not have a true wand and it was not registered and charmed. That's also makes wandless magic on detectible so Herms was also save from ministry meddling. The only reason they knew about Harrys accidental magic when he was four was because he mad it permanent and they had to send people to remove it.

That's it for now. Read and review. There's nothing as nice and inspiring as a good or even a interesting question that makes me think about my story.

Amberile B-)


	7. The return to Hogwarts

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Some of the ideas in this chapter come from the story Nightmare of Futures Past by S'TarKan. Great story go read it. I give full credit to the author for his ideas.

Thanks a lot for all the insightful reviews I got. It really fun to read your thought and suggestions about my story, keep it up. B-)

Thanks again to my beta _Weasel Debater_ for all the time and effort.

This chapter is dedicated to zmanjz my 100 reviewer!!!!

**Chapter 6 The return to Hogwarts**

When Harry arrived at Hermione's house he expected to be tackled by her like she usually does when she's glad to see him. He was wrong she just walked up to him grabbed his hand and pulled him to her room. 'We need to talk.' Was all she said till they were inside and the door was closed.

'What's going on Hermione?' Harry asked confused.

'You know perfectly well.' she snapped, Harry just stared at her totally clueless.

'All these years we've been friends and you never told me. I could have helped you but you always changed the subject when I asked about your family. I knew there was a reason you never wanted to go home at night.'

Harry remained silent unsure what to say really.

'I can't believe you did not trust me!'

'Hermione I do trust you, you must understand that they're my only family. We might hate each other but they're still my family. Anyway I knew it would not help to complain about it, the wizards would not allow me to move. I tried when I was little and they just cast spells on them to make them nicer to me. So I did not see the point of complaining about stuff I could do nothing about.'

'But they hurt you.' Hermione said almost in tears.

'I know, but I'm safe now, my magic protects me and they can't touch me.'

'You still don't have anybody that loves you, that's not right.'

'You love me that's enough. I don't mind my family that much, they leave me alone to do as I please and that made it possible for me to spend so much time with you practicing magic and also my martial arts with Master Li.'

Hermione gave her friend a hug with tears in her eyes. 'I do love you Harry and I promise to always be there for you. You can tell me anything, you know that.'

'Yes, you're my best friend ever, I really do trust you. Never doubt it. Are we fine now?'

'Yes, I wasn't really angry, just worried about you.'

'I know, it's all right. Lets do some magic.' Harry said glad that the awkward moment was over.

'Speaking of magic, you've been holding out on me.' Hermione laughed, too glad to have cleared thing up with her friend to be angry about the wand he had hidden from her.

'Not really,' Harry answered. 'I did not want to tell you about the wand because I was afraid you would ask how I got it, but now that you know everything it doesn't matter. Anyway it didn't work properly so it is just as good as if I did everything without it.'

'Whatever, come on show me how to use a wand properly I would die if I made a fool of myself at Hogwarts because I did not know how to use it.'

'I don't see the problem, you're already a fool.' Harry joked.

'Watch it, wise guy I can still hex you without a wand. She threatened her friend with mock seriousness.

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When Harry got home that evening from his visit with Hermione, he was pleased to see that his books and ingredients had arrived. He immediately started to prepare the space he planed to make his potions lab. He could not wait to start playing around with the ingredients. With no greasy git hanging over his shoulder to criticise, he actually enjoyed brewing potions. He also had to build up a stock of all that vile stuff madam Pomfrey usually forced down his throat, like the pepper-up potion. He did not like the hospital wing. God knows he spent enough time in there the first time round. If he could heal himself and avoid that place, he would be perfectly happy.

Unfortunately, before he could start having fun, he would have to sort out all his new belongings. His room was a mess of books, cauldrons, ingredients and dark items.

After packing away all his potion equipment he had enough room to start sorting through all the books he had (about sixty of them). Falling back on the habits he learned from years in Hermione's company, he sorted them according to subject and topic. He then compiled a reading list of the all the things he needed to know the most urgently before he went to Hogwarts. With Dumbledore monitoring him, he would not be able to practise the dark arts as he had originally planed. He would have to wait until he got to Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement. It was ironic that it would work that way. Luckily, Dumbledores did not know of that room yet. Dumbledores interference did not matter that much anyway; he still had plenty to keep him occupied. Legilimency, potions and healing charms was on the top of his list. The shield book was also on the okay list. If there were still time left at the end of the month, he would work on a few light hexes and jinxes.

Another project he started working on was his wandless magic. Although he knew he could do it, he had never tried to do advance spells, except for summoning and banishing. Therefore, as he worked through his school syllabus he tried to do all the spells without his wand, once he could do it with complete control using his new wand. He really did not have a problem doing any of the spells with his new wand. His problem was that he was doing it to well. He really had to concentrate on not sending too much power into the spells. A child starting to learn magic was not supposed to have so much power and control. He was actually practising how to have magical accidents! It was funny that it took more skill to use so little power than it did just letting it all break free.

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It took Harry most of that night and the next day to sort through all his belongings and decide what he would do. He also spent a lot of time planning his reactions to meeting people. He could not afford having another disaster like with Dumbledore. It was true that he planed on being more aggressive this time round, but he did not want to be known as the badass wizard from hell.

Another semi problem was Amberile; the little snake had finally chosen a name. What would be the peoples reaction to him having a snake. If there were ever a thing to convince everyone that he was indeed a dark wizard then, this was it. Then there was the fact that he could talk to her…He would have to think of something.

Amberile was actually a very pleasant "person". Sometimes actually, _too_ chatty, but Harry did not mind that, he liked her company and she really gave good advice if asked. She liked it to curl herself around Harry's wrist. She said it was nice and warm there.

While packing his belongings in his trunk Harry discovered that there was more to his trunk than meets the eye. The eighth and ninth compartments were actually big rooms. It was nothing fancy but it would be perfect as a private potions lab and library once he was at school. It was also a good thing that the trunk had such good security measures because if someone saw some of the stuff Harry kept in it, especially his library, with all those dark books; he would be in a lot of trouble

Harry made a special place for Amberile to live in, in his library. She had a lot of specifications and he had to redo it almost five times before she was satisfied, but as far as snake homes went, this one was perfect.

With all that done his fun could finally begin.

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The night of the full moon came and Harry met his master for one final time before he left for school.

'I have spent a lot of time considering your progress my young student.' Master Li said as he stood in front of a kneeling Harry. It was a bright clear night not a cloud in the sky the moon illuminated the whole garden. 'I have decided it is time to induct you into my clan. We are a noble brotherhood of honour; I think you are ready to take our mark.'

Harry visibly flinched at the words "taking the mark"; he had seen many visions, through his scar link, of the ceremony the Dark Lord used to brand his followers. For a moment, Harry was so caught in his memories that he did not respond to his master.

Master Li saw his pupil's reaction and knew this was one of those strange unexplained moments that frequently occurred. Sometime the simplest word or action could cause a reaction.

'Harry, what is wrong?'

'I am sorry Master; please explain more to me about your clan.'

'All of the men in my clan receive the clan tattoo after they have completed training with a master. It is a mark that signifies skill, dedication and honour.'

'How does this symbol look and were on the body is it placed? I can tell you I am no fan of groups marking their members. Yet this is not a mark of a group of sycophants but one of honour.'

'You are correct my student, all that have had the privilege to receive this mark have dedicated their lives to protect the innocence and fight against the darkness the lurks inside mankind. They are warriors of the light, though they dwell in the darkness. Before old age claimed me, I was also a warrior, now I do my part by seeking worthy men and training them in the ways of the arts. If you take the mark you are bound to fight for the light. The mark is a symbol of a dragon with a bleeding heart on your right shoulder. I know you are still young and may not think yourself ready but I think you are. I have known you were destined to be a warrior since the first time I met you.'

'I have known for a very long time that I would have to face the darkness, I have been preparing to meet it for the past ten years. This mark does not bound me to a promise, I am already bound to that fate, I have always been destined to fight for the light, if I take it, it will only be a confirmation if my fate, my destiny.'

'Then let us begin the ceremony.'

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September the first dawned bright and clear, and Harry bounced out of bed in good spirits. Today was the day! Today was the day he would go to Hogwarts, would meet once again all his old school friends, and would be imbued in the magical atmosphere of that magical place.

As the morning wore on though, his excitement turned into anxious anticipation. '_What if something went wrong?_ _Could I handle not being friends with Ron_. _Do I have the right to have any friends? If they never knew me in my other life, they probably would have survived the war. They would not have died saving my pitiful life. If I just keep to myself this time, I would not have to lose them again'._ He knew these counter productive thoughts did not help him; he just could not help feeling this way. '_No, this time I will be a better friend. I will not waste time on feeling moody, jealous and misunderstood. I will help them to be prepared just like I will be. The day that Voldemort decide to come back in this life, he will regret it. He will wish he that stayed a sprit, hiding in Romania.'_

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They reached King's Cross at half past ten. This time Uncle Vernon did not help Harry with his trunk. They just dumped him and drove off. _'So much for caring for me.'_ Harry thought with a grimace_. Some things never change_. Harry got himself a trolley and wheeled it into the station, at the same time, looking for the right Platform.

Harry could have used the handy shrinking function on his trunk, but he decided to keep things as much the same to first time as possible. That meant a big heavy trunk and waiting outside the barrier until the Weasleys arrived.

'_I must not mess this up. I must not mess this up. I must not mess this up.'_ The mantra went on and on in Harry's head.

'-packed with Muggles, of course-' Those "magic" words swung Harry around. There speaking was the woman with flaming red hair which Harry regarded as a substitute mother in his previous live. Mrs. Weasley. Standing besides her was a small girl with the same flaming hair.

Harry planed out all his reactions for the day but when he saw Ginny, he froze. He could not breathe, he could not move. He could not do anything. All the memories started to flood back. All the good times they had together and then her death scene that had plagued his nightmares for years. For a moment, he was back there holding her broken body in his arms and kissing her brow as she exhaled her last breath.

'Mum, can't I go…'

'Your not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first.'

Ginny looked around her for something to do, her mother would be occupied with her brothers for at least another ten minutes. It wasn't fair; she wanted to go to Hogwarts with her brothers. Now that Ron was leaving, she would be all alone. It wasn't fair! She could do more magic than Ron could, but he got to go to Hogwarts and she had to stay At that moment, she noticed a pale boy looking at her. She could not understand his facial expression. He did not move he just stood there staring into space. She walked over to him and still he did not move.

'Excuse me, can I help you?' she asked friendly.

Harry was jolted out of his memories the moment Ginny spoke to him. It took him a while to collect himself_. 'What should I say? What should I do? Nice go Potter you've messed it up again. Why can't you just stick to the plan?'_ he berated himself.

'Yes,' Harry said remembering what he asked the first time to Mrs. Weasley. 'The thing is- the thing is, I don't know how to…'

'How to get on to the platform?' she asked kindly. Harry nodded, not trusting his voice to hold. 'Mom's a bit busy right now so I'll just slip away and show you. I'm Ginny by the way.' she said holding out her hand for him.

Harry was hesitant to take her hand, he knew once he took it he would never want to let go again. Ginny however had other plans, sensing his uncertainty she grabbed his hand and dragged him through the barrier.

'Now was that so bad?' she asked with a smile, still holding his hand. He shook his head and gave her a weak smile.

'Thank you.' Harry managed once he was sure his voice would sound normal.

'No trouble at all.' she smiled compassionately. 'Say where are your parents anyway?'

'Oh, I'm an orphan and lived with muggle relatives. I know nothing of the wizarding world and I think I am going to be a colossal failure, I could not even find the platform on my own.' Harry hoped this lie would cover his earlier behaviour. 'My uncle doesn't like magic that much, so he just dropped me off so he wouldn't meet any of our kind.'

'That's just horrible. No wonder you looked so lost. Don't worry lots of kids come from muggle homes and they do just fine, I would not worry if I were you. Tell you what, if you have any questions about the wizarding world you can write to me. I'll be alone at home this year and would really like to have a quill pal to chat with.'

Harry could not believe his luck. Ginny wanted to be his friend even though he acted so pathetic just now. 'I would really like that.' he answered with a genuine smile. _'That was so like Ginny always caring for others.' _

'Have to go now, before mom notices I was gone. Bye.' With that, she trotted off.

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A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sigh overhead said Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters on it. He had done it. He was back in the Wizarding world again.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. He looked around to see if he could find Hermione but could not find her he guessed she was already on the train.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry worked his way down the train, knowing it was full almost all the way to the back. He smiled seeing Neville looking for Trevor. That was another friend he did not want to see waiting five years to come into his own. Eventually Harry made his way to the last compartment, and began trying to stow his possessions. Hedwig's cage was not a problem, but Harry's trunk was even heavier this time round, even with the special charms to make it lighter. '_I'm really glad I've built up my strength this time.'_ he observed_. 'I can only imagine what difficulty I would have if I was still a bloody skinny little weed'._

As if on cue, one of the twins appeared like last time and they helped him get his trunk into the compartment. When they were done, one of them peered at the scar on his forehead and let out a low whistle.

'Blimey,' the other one said, 'are you…?

'I think he is,' the other one said.

'What?' Harry asked stupidly.

'You're Harry Potter!' the twins chorused.

Harry smiled at this. It was almost exactly identical reaction to what happened the first time. _At least something was happening according to plan_.

'Oh, yes I am.' he answered.

They gawped at him and Harry felt himself going red involuntarily. Molly's voice came floating in through the window.

'Fred, George are you there?'

'Coming, Mum.' They called before hopping off the train.

Harry watched his favourite family interact on the platform. Molly faffing over Ron and the twins teasing Percy "the Perfect Prefect."

Percy. That was another relationship he would have to work on. If he could prevent what happened to the Weasley family relationship, after the Triwizard tournament he would he very happy. Ron never said how much the split in the family had bothered him but Harry knew that it had had a huge effect. Maybe if he became better friends with Percy this time, he could prevent it all together. Molly reprimanding the twins brought Harry back to the present.

'Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet!'

'Great idea though, thanks Mum.'

'It's not funny. And look after Ron.'

'Don't worry; ickle Ronniekins is safe with us.'

'Shut up.' Ron's familiar voice cried out in annoyance.

A loud whistle suddenly sounded, and the three boys clambered on to the train. They leant out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and Harry watched as Ginny began to cry.

'Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls.'

'We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat.'

'George!'

'Only joking, Mum.'

The train began to move. Harry saw Mrs. Weasley waving and Ginny, half-laughing, half-crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, and then she fell back and waved.

He could not stop himself he waved back at Ginny. He would write to her as often as he could. This time he would not ignore her existence for five years. This time he planed on spending as much time as possible with her.

The door of the compartment suddenly slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in. 'Anyone sitting there?' he asked, pointing to the seat opposite Harry. 'Everywhere else is full.' Harry shook his head and the boy sat down.

'_Remember keep your cool, act normal, breath. Do not mess this up_.' Harry nervously organized his thoughts and emotions.

"I'm Ron, Ronald Weasley. Who're you?" the redhead asked as he held his hand out in front of him.

'Harry Potter.' Harry replied as he grasped Ron's hand and shook it, ignoring the shocked expression on Ron's face.

After a while, Ron got over his shock and started looking at Harry's scar. Harry tried no to get annoyed at that, it was only a normal reaction to meeting the famous Harry Potter. He knew Ron would get over it soon enough.

'So that's where You-Know-Who…?' Ron asked shyly.

'Yes,' said Harry, 'the only thing I remember is my mum screaming and a burst of green light though.'

'Wow!' said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

'Are all your family wizards?' ask Harry, who wanted to become friends with Ron again as quickly as he could.

'Er- yes, I think so,' said Ron. 'I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him.'

'So you must know loads of magic already.' Harry said as Ron shook his head slightly.

'I heard you went to live with Muggles,' said Ron. 'What are they like?'

Harry sighed. 'Not too bad, except for the fact that they hate all things magical and wish I'd died with my parents.'

Ron looked totally shocked and unsure how to respond to his idol telling him that.

Harry shrugged. 'They thought if they beat me often enough, I would decide to be normal.' he said bitterly. 'It's alright it wasn't that bad really, they mostly just ignored me once I managed to cast a notice-me-not charm on myself.'

'That's awful,' Ron said in barely more than a whisper. 'But you were bloody brilliant to manage that spell.'

'It was mostly accidental magic at first.' Harry answered quickly while looking for a change of subject as he saw the look of pity in his old friend's eye. He hoped that now that Ron knew a bit of that side of his life it would prevent any jealousy problems even before it started.

'Wish I'd had three wizard brothers.' Harry stated, remembering what he had said when he had first met Ron.

'Five,' Ron corrected. Harry noticed he looked very gloomy. 'I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat.'

Ron's attempt to cheer Harry up by describing the downsides to being the youngest son in a family full of brilliant wizards was really nice considering that this was Ron. Ron with the emotional intelligence of a rock. As Harry listened to his friend's rant, he wondered if he could do something about Ron's inferiority complex. He did not want his friend to struggle with this issue for years until he finally figures it out after school. He knew his friend needed to find his own true identity soon. It would be crucial for the future. He needed to define himself and get comfortable with that person. The problem was how do you help an eleven year old that does not even realise that he has a problem. Harry settled for now by talking about not having money, and told Ron stories about the awful hand-me-downs he'd gotten from Dudley over the years. True it was not that bad in this life but he could not help remembering what happened in his other life.

Harry's face turned a bit pale as Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep. In Ron's hand was the bastard who had framed Sirius after he had betrayed his parents to Voldemort, the same person that had used him in a ceremony to resurrect his master after Harry had spared his live. It took a moment before Harry could get his breathing under control and his hands to stop shaking. It would be so easy to kill the rat now, but he knew he had to preserve the time line, at least for now. He also could not risk his newly formed friendship with Ron.

'His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead.'

Ron looked up and saw Harry's reaction. He shied away, cradling his pet protectively against his chest. Harry noticed his reaction and started apologizing. 'Sorry about that Ron, you just, kind of startled me. I have had a couple of bad experiences with rats, living in a cupboard, you know. It just took me by surprise.

Ron looked apologetic. 'Sorry, Scabbers is such a lovable fellow I did not think he would scare anyone.'

Harry almost choked at the description of a lovable fellow. _'Yeah right, Peter count your blessings. Soon your day will come.'_ Aloud Harry said 'No apology needed.'

Ron smiled, a little sheepishly, and they got past that awkward moment.

'Say, what did you mean when you talked about the cupboard?' Ron asked after a while, a confused expression on his face.

'Oh I didn't tell you, my room is the cupboard under the stairs.' Harry answered with a smile thinking of the luxurious room he created.

Harry's reply kind of freaked Ron out but he said nothing about it.

'So how do you feel about going to Hogwarts?' Ron asked trying to change the subject.

'It's great! Until I got my letter I didn't know anything about my parents or Voldemort.' Harry lied. Ron gasped.

'What?' asked Harry, as he suddenly remembered people were scared to speak the Dark Lord's name. '_Well I certainly will not start using that You-Know-Who crap. I didn't do it in my other live and I'm not going to start in this live. Fear. That's how Tom controlled the masses, even those that said they oppose him. The first step of dealing with a problem was naming it.'_

'You said You-Know-Who's name!' said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. 'I'd have though you, of all people…'

'No Ron, I know you are scared of that name and you have been conditioned not to say it. I think your fear of the name is bigger than the actual problem. Voldy is a coward. He surrounds himself with power hungry minions that do his bidding. True he is one evil bastard, but he is not a god, he is just a pathetic half-blood with a major inferiority complex. You should really try using his name, better yet call him Tom this alias thing is a bit lame.' Harry said forgetting that he should not let on that he knew this information.

Ron looked shocked for a minute and then said. 'I suppose you're right, I mean he has been dead for ten years, so there's nothing to be afraid of really.'

Harry wanted to correct Ron but decided this was not the right time. He did not want to scare his friend away on the first day.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

Around half-past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and asked, 'Anything off the trolley, dears?'

Harry got up to his feet, and walked over there, ignoring Ron's muttering about he'd brought sandwiches.

Harry bought three boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, a dozen Chocolate Frogs, and a bit of everything, knowing that Ron was probably starving and did not want to eat his sandwiches.

Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it on to an empty seat.

'Hungry, are you?' Ron asked.

'Not really, I've never tasted any of these. Got any idea what they are?' Harry asked as he held up a pack of chocolate frogs. He had to stick to the conversation he and Ron had all those years back, if he could remember half of it. He had already veered of topic too often.

'They're not really frogs, are they?' Harry asked as Ron shook his head.

'No,' said Ron. 'But see what the card is, I'm missing Agrippa.'

'What?'

'Oh, of course, you wouldn't know, Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect, famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy.'

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

'Oh great, I got Dumbledore.' said Harry sarcastically.

Ron did not notice that and asked. 'Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa.'

'Help yourself; I'll never be able to finish all of this myself anyway.' Harry said as he turned the card over and began reading:

Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern

times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his

defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,

for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's

blood and his work on alchemy with his partner,

Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys

chamber music and tenpin bowling.

'_And interfering in Harry Potters life.'_ Harry though bitterly

Harry turned the card back over and saw that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. He put it in his pocket making sure he knew were to find it. Just in case he had to go on a fact-finding mission again. At least he would know were to look this time, he would just feed the others the information in a subtitle way.

Next, he went to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

'You want to be careful with those,' Ron warned Harry. 'When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour, you know. You get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once.'

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully and bit into a corner.

'Bleaaargh—see? Sprouts.'

They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, and sardine and was even brave enough to nibble the end of a funny grey one he knew was pepper.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and Neville looking tearful stood in the doorway. Harry felt sorry for his old friend; this was another person he would have to help with self-confidence. _'Good thing I read all those psychology books, it didn't help to solve my problems by maybe it can help my friends.'_

'Sorry,' Neville said nervously, 'but have you seen a toad at all?'

'No, sorry mate, sit down a bit and eat with us. We will help you find it right now. What's your name?' Harry asked, already knowing the answer. _'Time to make another new-old friend.' _

'Neville, Neville Longbottom.' he said as he sat down next to the pile of treats.

'Nice to meet you Neville, I'm Harry Potter.' Harry said as he held his hand out to shake Neville's hand. 'And he's Ron Weasley.' He said gesturing to Ron who also held his hand out to shake Neville's hand.

'Wow, I've heard about you from my gram. You're famous!' Neville said as he shook Harry and Ron's hands in excitement. Not believing that one of the only people that has been nice to him today was actually _the_ Harry Potter.

'Fame doesn't come easy. There is always a nasty price to pay. Harry whispered with a sigh. Neville and Ron shared a glance and felt really sorry that they were so rude.

'Anyways, let me find that toad for you.' Harry said as he took his wand out, he had just raised it when the compartment door slid open again and a girl stood there.

'Oh hey Neville, have you found your frog yet?' she asked as Harry froze in his actions, staring at her.

Hermione.

'Hi Mione.' Harry greeted. 'How's it going with the smartest witch on this train?'

'Hallo Harry, you know if you keep on complimenting me like that I might just believe you. Anyway I've been looking for you, is this where you've been hiding?'

'Actually, I couldn't find you so I got myself a compartment figuring it was no use if we both looked for each other and then have nowhere to go once we find each other.'

'Look who's the smart one now?' she laughed. 'Are you doing magic?' Hermione's asked when she saw Harry's wand

'Yeah.' he replied as a smile appeared onto her face, she sat down to watch. She loved seeing all the wonderful things her friend could do with magic.

'Let's see it, then.' she said, waiting eagerly.

'_Accio _Neville's Toad.' Harry whispered pointing his wand out of the compartment, a few seconds later, a toad went flying into the compartment and into Harry's waiting hands.

'Here you go, my friend.' Harry said as he gave Trevor to Neville, who looked at Harry with admiration very happily to have his pet back.

'Wow that was Bloody Brilliant!' Ron exclaimed.

'Harry did you need to show of like that, you know we other first years can't do that.' Hermione said exasperated.

For a second Harry was angry with Hermione, but he never asked her to keep his use of magic secret so he could not blame her for it. Anyway, it was his bright idea to cast that spell.

'I was no showing off; I was helping a new friend.' he answered smartly. 'Anyway you can also do that spell, I taught it to you last week when we went through the fourth year text book.'

Neville and Ron just looked stunned at the two bickering. Clearly they had been friends for a long time.

'Oh where are my manners.' Harry said after awhile when they had stopped. 'Hermione this is Ron Weasley.' She greeted him and introduced herself.

After chatting for some time, Hermione said. 'Harry did you know you are in _Modern Magical History _and_ The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _and_ Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_?'

'Mione you really shouldn't believe everything you read. You know that, after all the bogus stuff we found while we were doing our little research project.' Harry said annoyed. He eventually read all of those books in his other life, in a hope to learn something to help him with his quest. What he found was a load of useless garbage that was incredibly lacking and laughably wrong on some of the major events.

'I know Harry but they can't all have it wrong?' she asked.

'Books still have to be written by people, Mione.' Harry explained. 'History is written by the victors. There are always three truths: what I think is true, what you think is true and what really happened. If you know what I mean.' Taking a breath Harry looked from Hermione to Ron.

'It's all about perception. Kind of like that Tom thing we talked about Ron.' Ron nodded and Harry continued.

'The only person that was there that night and is still alive to tell the tale is sitting right here, and I sure as hell haven't given any interviews. Mainly because I'm not even sure what the hell happened. So how could they honestly claim to know?'

Hermione looked a little sad as she listened to Harry. She knew he was sensitive about his parents and how they died, she felt sorry for bringing it up.

Harry hoped that he had made his friend think twice before blindly following books. He had a good respect for books and the knowledge you could gain out of them, but he also knew the dangers of blindly believing everything you read.

'Well, that is something to think about. You've always been the smart one Harry, are you hoping to get sorted into Ravenclaw?' Hermione asked. 'I'm hoping for Gryffindor, that's where they say Professor Dumbledore was sorted, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad I suppose. Maybe we'll be in the same house.'

Harry shook his head. 'You know your smarter than I am Moine, anyway my parents were both in Gryffindor, so that's where I'll go, I hope. It would be really nice if we all ended up in the same house. Don't you think so Neville?' Harry asked, intentionally drawing the shy boy into the conversation.

'I suppose it would be fun. I'm really hoping for Gryffindor but I don't think I'm brave enough. Uncle Algi always says I'm such a scaredy cat I'm afraid of my own shadow. I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff.' Neville said miserably.

'Being brave isn't not being afraid Neville.' Harry said. 'I'm also scared sometimes. Being brave is being afraid and going on ahead and doing what is right no matter what.' Neville looked thoughtful, but did not disagree.

'Anyway it really doesn't matter as long as you don't end up in Slytherin.' Ron said. 'Can you imagine mom's reaction if I owled her with that news.'

'Ron don't judge a Slytherin that quickly, there is a good chance that I could land there.' Harry spoke up.

In the war, Harry had learned that the world was not all black and white. Slytherin against the rest of the houses. Many good people that fought by his side he found out had been in that house. The same was true about the Death Eaters; a lot of them were in Ravenclaw and the other two houses. After all, he also almost landed in Slytherin. '_Might as well tell them about Amberile now. Better to confront them now with the truth, than to later have to explain why I hid that from them. If they didn't want to be my friends because of it, it would be fine; at least they would be safe from being targets'. _However, he hoped that being a Parselmouth and trying to have better relationships with the other houses would not matter to them in this life, just like his special talent did not matter in his other live. As for better house relations he reckoned the more people he got on his side now, the less he would have to kill later. Not a very pleasant thought.

'Why do you say that?' Ron asked surprised.

'I reckon Lord Voldy transferred some of his magic over to me when he gave me this ruddy scar.' Harry said as he showed Neville his scar. 'I'm able to speak to snakes. It's kind of freaky. I have a snake as a friend; in fact, she is in my trunk right now. Her name is Amberile and she really is a very friendly snake. I'd probably drop dead if the sorting hat placed me into Slytherin though.' Harry said gloomily as Ron, Neville and Hermione all gasped.

'You can talk to snakes?' Ron asked frightened, Harry just nodded slightly. 'This is bad.'

'You know it's a dark art, don't you. It's also what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the Slytherin house symbol is a serpent.' Hermione added.

'Actually talking to snakes is not an evil act in its self. There is just a bad connotation that people made a long time ago. Snakes are not bad; they actually just want to be left alone. They really do not like being used by dark wizards. That's why Amberile is staying with me. I rescued her and she agreed to help me fight for the light side.' Harry explained. The others looked thoughtful for a long time.

'I guess it's not such a bad thing, you really don't look evil to me, actually I can't recall you ever being mean and you don't want to be in Slytherin.' Hermione said thoughtful. 'You want to be on the good side. Your snake friend also chose to be good. I see no problem; I am still your friend. I'm not going to drop you after all this time we've been friends and all the help you gave me.' she smiled at him and gave him one of her trademark hugs.

Harry could have shouted his joy from the mountains. Hermione was one of the most wonderful people ever.

'I guess she's right.' Ron said nodding at Harry.

'I agree.' Neville said, patting Harry on the shoulder.

'So, were all friends now?' Harry asked nervously.

'Of course we are.' Hermione said. Ron and Neville just nodded still a bit uncertain.

'Could you please keep this a secret; I don't want others to know about it. They might think I'm some kind of dark wizard, which I'm not.' Harry asked.

'Sure mate, no problem.' Ron said after he finally made up his mind, Harry did not look evil.

Suddenly, the door to the compartment slid open yet again, and three boys entered. Harry recognized them as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

'Potter, I presume.' Draco said in his annoyingly superior voice as he scanned the compartment. Harry stood up the moment he saw his old school nemesis in the door. He automatically took in a defensive position so that he would be able to shield his friends. His battle instincts kicking in.

'Malfoy.' Harry replied just as arrogantly as Draco but inside seething with suppressed anger and memories. Scene of death and destruction flashing through his mind. Hermione, Ron, and Neville followed Harry's actions and also stood up.

'This here's Crabbe and this is Goyle.' Draco introduced as he pointed to his bodyguards.

'I know the goon squad, all muscle no brain. Hard to find good minions these days.' Harry commented sarcastically. Malfoy chose to ignore that, maybe if Potter could be that cold he was his kind of guy and would fit in nicely with his gang, he continued to speak.

'Apparently you know me, so I guess you looked up on all the great pure blood families, like the Malfoy's.' Draco said with an imperious smile.

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

'Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and tacky clothes.' Draco said as he turned back to Harry.

'You'll soon find out some Wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.' Draco stated as he held his hand out to shake Harry's, but Harry did not bother to take it. He was disgusted at the arrogant little ferret in front of him.

'I understand perfectly what you mean. Better than you even know yourself. I just have to look around in this compartment to know who the better wizards are. I am sure Ron and Neville's family is a million times better then yours. After all, their not a bunch of inbred sycophants that stoop to the level of licking a half breeds boots.' Harry said in a cold voice as Draco's cheeks turned slightly pink.

'I'd be careful if I were you, Potter,' he said slowly. 'Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasley and mudbloods it'll rub off on you.' By the time Draco had finished, Harry noticed that Ron's face had turned as red as his hair.

'No Draco you should be the one that is afraid. You have no idea who you're dealing with.' Harry said softly in a very dangerous voice, but it almost sounded like a shout to the stunned Draco. It was strange to hear an eleven year old talking like that. Harry was almost beside himself with anger. The blond ferret before him directly contributed to Dumbledore and Ginny's deaths. He saw in his minds eye how Draco killed Ginny in his other life._ 'If only I could kill him right here, right now. My live would be so much easier without this bastard._' He did not let his anger show, he continued calmly. 'You have a choice today. Be your own man or follow your pathetic Death Eater father and his "powerful" Master. Just know I'll be watching you and if you make the wrong choice you'll have to deal with me. Remember I was one when I kicked old Voldy's ass.'

Draco just stood there not knowing what to do but he did not want to look weak in front of his friends. He then thought that Potter was only full of hot air, after all, he was raised by muggles, he could not possibly know any thing about magic. He stepped forward with a sneer.

'I suggest that you leave, if you have any brains in your thick skull.' Harry threatened as Malfoy snickered. 'You'll regret it.' Harry warned again, but Draco was too thick to notice.

'But we don't feel like leaving, do we boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have plenty. Be nice and share a little.'

Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs on the seat across from Ron and Neville. Before they could do anything, Harry lifted his hand and banished the fat lump out of the room. Harry did not plan to use wandless magic he just reacted on instinct. As Goyle cried out in pain when he hit the opposite wall, gasps of shock could be heard from everyone else in the compartment.

'This is your final warning Malfoy. Out!' Harry whispered in a dangerous tone as Draco glared back at him angrily, before taking a step back, and walking away. Draco's two bodyguards followed, and Harry closed the compartment once again before sitting back down.

'Blimey how'd you do that?' Ron cried out as Hermione gave Harry a strict look.

'You're going to get in trouble for fighting even before we get there!' she muttered as Harry shook his head.

'Malfoy would never admit to getting beaten by me. Anyways, his presence was getting annoying. I had to kick him out before I punched him in the face for insulting my friends. Besides I didn't lay a finger on him and I also didn't use my wand so he can't prove anything.' Harry explained as Hermione looked at him crossly and the other two awed at the enormous magical feat he had just performed.

'I think we're going to arrive at Hogwarts soon, we'd better get into our robes.' Harry said to change the subject. Hermione and Neville left the compartment to go get their stuff, and within a few seconds, Ron and Harry were both ready in their long robes.

'We will be reaching Hogwarts in ten minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately.' A voice echoed through the train. Ron and Harry both crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets, and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train started to slow down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. _'I'm here, I'm finally back at Hogwarts!'_ A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years!

Harry was very glad to see Hagrid; he would have to think of a way to become friends with the gentle half-giant with the really big heart, again. He had really missed him a lot.

---------------------------------------

Finally Harry is back at Hogwarts and now all the fun can begin. Next up the sorting…

My timetable has change and now I have class on Fridays (sniff, sob). I'm thinking of giving myself longer time between chapters. Maybe once every two weeks. Will still try to update as soon as possible.

My favorite vampire (my brother) and beta said that I was revealing too much of Harry's power to the "enemy". I know he is giving a lot away but he is too emotional to think when he is confronted with Ginny's murderer for the first time. Anyway Draco is so taken aback at being confronted and denied for the first time in his live that he doesn't even realize that Harry did not use his wand.

Poor Harry will need to work on his emotions; he's not really good with the deception game. He needs to get in touch with his inner Slytherin.

Remember to review if you liked the chapter.

Amberile B-)


	8. Sorting and flashbacks

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Some of the ideas in this chapter come from the story Nightmare of Futures Past by S'TarKan. Great story go read it. I give full credit to the author for his ideas.

**jabarber69: **really enjoyed your insightful review and email, thanks. _NovaBladeZ; _I loved your review. B-)Pottersparky: Inner Slytherin rules.

Once again a huge thanks to my wonderful beta **_Weasel Debater._** B-)

Enjoy the chapter and remember to review.

**Chapter 7 Sorting and flashbacks**

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

'C'mon, follow me—anymore firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!'

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was dark on either side of them. Harry remembered there were thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville sniffed once or twice.

'Don't worry Nev, well be just fine.' Harry whispered in Neville's ear.

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' Hagrid called over his shoulder, 'jus' round this bend here.'

There was a loud 'Oooooh!' and Harry smiled at the reactions of the students. He could not help himself feeling a little bit nostalgic. '_I've really missed the castle, the only place I've ever felt at home.' _In his other life, only a pile of rubble was left. All the major wizarding places were destroyed long before Harry could destroy all of the pieces of Voldemort's soul.

The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

'_If I can prevent its destruction in this world, I will. I won't let Tom win this time.' _

'No more'n four to a boat' Hagrid called, point to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione all sat in the same boat. Already they were beginning to form a bond of friendship.

'Everyone in?' shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, 'Right then—FORWARD!'

And as he said this, the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake that was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.

Neville managed to keep hold of his toad this time and was spared the embracement he had in the other time line.

-------------------------

They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

'Everyone here?' Hagrid asked.

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry thought back to his first impression of McGonagall all those years ago in his other life; she was not someone to cross. That was an accurate assumption but he knew that her sternness was only a facade covering the truly nice person she really was. He remembered how she stood up for him that day when Umbrige sat in on his career counselling session. He also remembered all the time and effort she had spent teaching him how to become an Animagus during the war after Hogwarts fell.

'The firs' years, Professor McGonagall.' said Hagrid.

'Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here.'

She pulled the door wide. There it was, just as Harry remembered it. The entrance hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. '_The rest of the school must already be here.'_ Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Getting comfort from the closeness of others. Harry smiled at that, he could not remember being so small and scared like the kids around him the first time. _'I suppose I was.'_ he mused, looking around the room and remembering the other times he was in this room, once at his first shorting and then again when he was made the fourth champion. That was not a pleasant a memory. He reckoned there would be a lot of places around the castle that would bring back sad memories. He consoled himself that there would probably be just as many places with happy memories. The problem was that all the happy memories were tainted by sadness for the people in them were dead, and he knew their counterparts in this time were not the same; they were different people that would probably take different paths because of changes he made. Hermione was a good example of that. The girl he now knew in this time weren't the same Hermione he knew in his other live. What made it even worse was that he could not talk to anyone about his memories; he could not share his burden.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-rooms.' She looked over them and then continued. 'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points shall be awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.'

Harry smiled again at the mention of house points and the cup. He had won and lost so many points for his house in his other life. Those were good times. However, once the war had started it all seemed so insignificant. What did it matter who won the house cup while Death Eaters were blowing up buildings around you? He tried get the morose thought out of his head by promising himself that he would enjoy every second of peace that he was granted.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.'

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry did not even bother trying to flatten his hair; he knew it was a futile effort.

'I shall return when we are ready for you,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Please wait quietly.'

She left the chamber. Harry sighed. _'How would the sorting go? Will I still be placed in Gryffindor?' _

'How exactly do they sort us into houses?' he heard Hermione ask Ron nervously.

'Some sort of test, I think. My brother Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.' Ron replied.

'_Oh, Fred and George, eternal agents of mischief.' _Harry though.

Harry did not join in the conversation. He did not want to appear to know too much. He just smiled once again as he heard Hermione recite spells under her breath.

A few seconds later, Harry heard the people all around him gasp, scream, and jump in fear. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, 'Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—'

'My fair Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—I say, what are you all doing here?'

Nobody answered.

'New students!' said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. 'About to be sorted, I suppose?'

A few people nodded mutely.

'Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!' said the Friar. 'My old house, you know.'

'Move along now,' said a sharp voice. 'The sorting Ceremony's about to start.'

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

'Now, form a line,' Professor McGonagall told the first years, 'and follow me.'

Feeling oddly nervous, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, he knew was Seamus, with Ron, Neville and Hermione behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry felt the butterflies in his stomach, the last time he had felt this way was—'_well when I was sorted_. _Life was so ironic sometimes.'_ He felt excitement flow through him as they entered the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. _'Every thing was just as it was supposed to be.'_ This though comforted Harry. _'Everything would be alright.'_ he knew he was a true Gryffindor. _'After all I did pull that sword out of the hat in my second year.'_

Professor McGonagall led the first years up where they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, 'It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in _Hogwarts, a History_.'

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched, frayed, and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and then the hat began to sing its annual song.

'_The hat was a lot smarter than anybody gave it credit, if they had only listen to its warnings in my other life…'_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

'So we've just got to try on the hat!' Ron whispered to Harry with relief and indignation. 'I'll kill Fred! He was going on about wrestling a troll.'

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Abbott, Hannah.'

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down.

'_Hannah had died in the attack on Diagon Ally, one of the first casualties of the war.' _Harry could not prevent himself thinking of that day. Seeing people alive that he saw dying had a bigger effect on him than he had thought it would_. 'It had happened such a long time ago, it actually hadn't happen yet in this life.'_ He had to tell himself.

The hat paused for a moment—

'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

'Bones, Susan!'

'_She was almost destroyed by the news of her aunt's murder. She joined her aunt only two years later in an attack on the ministry.' _

'HUFFLEPUFF!' Shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

'Boot, Terry!'

Harry did not know what had happened to the cleaver boy_. 'Maybe he was one of the lucky survivors.'_

'RAVENCLAW!'

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

'Brocklehurst, Mandy' went to Ravenclaw too, but 'Brown, Lavender' became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

'Bulstrode, Millicent' then became a Slytherin.

Harry remembered the day that Ron killed her, it was a very impressive duel.

Then Professor McGonagall called 'Finch-Fletchley, Justin' up, who became a Hufflepuff.

'_Justin had become a good friend in my first life, after that incident in the second year.' _He had fought and died bravely at Harry's side.

'Finnigan, Seamus' was next, and he sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

'_I think he fled to America before things got really bad. Not a very Gryffindor thing to do but no one could blame him. Lots of wizards did the same thing.'_

'Granger, Hermione!'

'_Oh Hermione.' _Harry thought. Her death was one of those that had affected him the most. '_She died because of my stupidity. Saving my miserable life. What was she thinking jumping in front of a killing cures?' _

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

'GRYFFINDOR!' shouted the hat. Ron smiled. She made it into her house of choice.

Neville was sorted into Gryffindor. _'With a little bit of luck they would all make it into Gryffindor._' Ron thought_. 'Now its only Harry and me.' _

Then it was Malfoy's turn, the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed 'SLYTHERIN!'

'_Malfoy.'_ thought Harry bitterly. _'Malfoy the boy who was my school nemesis almost from day one. Malfoy the little Death Eater in training. Malfoy who was almost directly responsible for Dumbledore's death. Malfoy who cause the first Hogwarts attack. Malfoy how led the Death Eater forces in the Attack on Diagon Ally. Malfoy who killed Ginny. Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy…' _

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with him self. There weren't many people left now.

'Moon' ..., 'Nott' ..., 'Parkinson' ..., and then a pair of twin girls, 'Patil' and 'Patil' ..., then 'Perks, Sally-Anne' ..., and then, at last—

'Potter, Harry!'

Harry was jerked out of his dark thoughts when his name was called. When he stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like hissing fires all over the hall.

'Potter, did she say?'

'The Harry Potter?'

'_That was getting old, it wasn't fun the first time around and now I will have to deal with it all over again. Fate was one cruel lady'. _He would just have to ignore the whispers like he did the previous time_. 'Why did it have to be me? It would have been so much easier if Neville was the chosen one.' _However, he would not wish his destiny on his worst enemy so he was glad his friend Neville did not have to carry his burden._ 'Potter pull yourself together, this is suppose to be a feast not a funeral. You promise yourself to enjoy yourself so stop thinking about the past and start living!' _

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here? That's interesting.' A voice said in his head. 'I can see you've already been sorted, but that's impossible.'

'Yes, _totally_ impossible, yet here I am.' Harry thought sardonically.

'Yes, yes. There's no need to be snippy. I am the one that will sort you, be careful. How did it happen anyway?'

'Wish I knew that.' Harry answered, wondering again for the thousands time the same thing.

'It isn't often I run into something I haven't seen before Mr. Potter. I've been around for a very long time. Mmm… I see another Hogwarts. Oh my, oh my, you poor thing.'

'I don't need your pity. I need your help; you're a lot smarter than others think. Could you be my eyes and ears in the Heads office?'

'Mr. Potter I must always be loyal to the Headmaster and the school.'

'Well I'm trying to save the school. I know you can see it all in my head, Occlumency doesn't work on you. You also know what Dumbledore will do if he finds out the truth.'

'Your plan is an audacious one; you seek to meddle with the workings of Fate itself.'

'Well, Fate dumped me here; it's not as if I had any choice.' Harry thought bitterly.

'True, I wish you well in this endeavour. Never fear, I will keep your secrets. The more who know the greater the risk.'

'Thank you. Er, would it be possible to ask for another small favour?'

'What more could you want, you already got a second chance?'

Well, this is not for myself, it concerns another. Her name is Luna Lovegood. You'll sort her into Ravenclaw, but she won't enjoy it because her house mates will treat her very badly. She will become a good friend of mine. Could you possibly consider putting her in Gryffindor where I can keep her safe?'

'I see what you remember. You have noble intentions. Nevertheless, I cannot allow this. People have the right to make their own choices Mr. Potter; she must choose her house on her own. I know what you are planning, but are you prepared to deal with the consequences of your meddling with the time lines?'

'I can't see why I would be send back here if I'm not suppose to change anything?'

'Very well, I'll talk to you later when you sneak in to see me.'

'What?'

'I can read your thoughts remember.'

'You really are a clever hat.'

'Why thank you. But I think we should get on with it, people are getting restless. I must congratulate you though, your plan is worthy of the most cunning Slytherin.'

'Well you know about the snake thing… and you did almost send me there.'

'Don't tempt me.' The hat laughed mockingly. 'You sure you want to be a lion again, I see you have a mind any Ravenclaw would be proud of any your loyalty to your friends is unquestionable, maybe you should be a Hufflepuff, wont that shock the wizarding world.' The hat laughed.

'Please don't, I need to be a griff for my plans to work.' Harry asked nervous that the hat would be spiteful and place him in a different house just for the fun of it.

'Ok I had best send you on to your future friends in GRYFFINDOR!'

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and gave it a small pat as if to say thank you, very relieved then he walked towards the Gryffindor table with a huge grin on his face. He noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, 'We got Potter! We got Potter!' Harry sat down across from Hermione and Neville. He wanted to avoid the conversation with Nearly Headless Nick. He really liked the ghost but it was really disgusting when he flopped his head side ways.

'Why did it take so long to sort you?' Neville asked after the twins calmed down.

'I had to convince it to put me here with you.' Harry lied.

'Oh,' Neville said. 'Where did it want to put you?'

'Take a guess.' Harry said with a smile.

'No wonder you argued with it. I would have done the same Harry.' Hermione said.

'Me too mate.' Neville added

Harry barely paid attention to the end of the sorting, until he realized Ron had just been sorted into Gryffindor. Then he began clapping like mad as Ron sank into the chair next to him.

'Well done, Ron, excellent,' said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as 'Zabani, Blaise' was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the sorting hat away.

'I told you we would all end up together. This year is going to be great!' Harry said grinning like mad.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

'Welcome!' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!'

'_Just like the old bugger to start a feast like this. I really missed his eccentricities.'_ Harry thought

Dumbledore sat back down. Everyone clapped and cheered as Harry chuckled. Food suddenly appeared in front of him, and he immediately dug in and ate hungrily. He was determined not to be a little scrawny runt this time around. He would continue exercising tomorrow morning. He was so happy just to be there, at Hogwarts, the place he loved most, his home. He hoped he would not accidentally levitate the whole table. He was getting very good with his wandless magic now. Harry actively concentrated on his happiness. He did not want to look around at his classmates, reliving some of their deaths during the sorting was bad enough. If he were going to do what he needed to do, he would have to find a way to deal with his memories of things that have not, and hopefully would not, happen. He had been alone for much of his early life, until he had met Hermione. The last year in his old life he had been totally bereft of friends. This would be easier if he had someone he could talk to… someone to talk about what was really going on. Unfortunately, his short conversation with the Sorting Hat made it abundantly clear he could not do that, as it would ruin everything. For now, he would just have to chat to Amberile. The only problem with that was that she did not always understand everythingAs nearly headless Nick floated by, Harry continued to eat, not bothering to join in on the conversation he already knew so well, he was too lost in his own confused thoughts.

He also did not bother looking at the head table. He really did not want to see the hate in Snape's eyes; it would only make Harry want to hex him. He also did not want to get a headache from Quirrell.

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For the next half an hour or so, everyone talked and ate. Finally, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again, and the hall fell silent.

'Ahem—just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.' Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

Harry smiled at that, he could not count all the times he had snuck into the forest. He almost knew it as well as the castle. After he had left Hogwarts he had spend a long time in there trying to convince the magical creatures to join the side of the light, it was not very successful. They were too disgruntled with the treatment they had received from the ministry over the years. Harry planed to make more trips into the forest and try to make friends with the creatures. _'Maybe if they had a better relationship with me they would listen to me this time.' _

'I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'

Harry listened as a few people laughed, and questions flowed around waiting for answers, but he kept silent the whole way through.

He was relieved to hear that announcement. It meant that the stone was collected and Voldemort haven't stolen it yet. It also meant that Harry would have to go through that whole thing with Fluffy, the devils snare and the mirror_. 'I'll have to work on my plan some more, for now I'll do nothing.'_ It was almost killing Harry to know that Voldemort was here, in the castle and he could do nothing.

'And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!' cried Dumbledore as he gave his wand a little flick, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high about the table and twisted itself snake-like into words.

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

'Ah, music,' he said, wiping his eyes. 'A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!'

Harry knew exactly what the head meant. Fawkes' song always had a magical effect on him. His knowledge of tune magic confirmed it. He would have to make time to practise his music. He had finally managed to transfigure a piano, it had taken him almost three hours, but he was happy with the end result. It was currently stored away in his trunk in his library compartment. Over the years, he had expanded his musical knowledge, Hermione had even showed him how to play violin, he was not great at it but it was a start. He really liked playing his flute, it was small and he could carry it around with him and play it whenever he wanted to. A handy shrinking charm made it even easier to carry his instruments with him.

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Strange enough they did not meet Peeves this time. After what seemed like five minutes of walking, they stopped at the end of a corridor, where a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress hung.

'Password?' she asked.

'Caput Draconis,' said Percy, and the portrait swung forwards to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common-room. Percy directed them all to their proper dormitories but the four new friends did not go up immediately. They where still to excited to sleep so they got themselves a spot on a couch in front of the fire and chatted a bit.

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When they finally went up to bed Harry fell onto his bed and quickly fell asleep. The day was exhausting. He did not expect it to be this difficult coming back here. Harry thought his head would burst with all the thought and memories.

The moment he entered dreamland the nightmares started. Nightmares like those that he had not had in years. He relived the whole war, saw all his friends die. Saw al the places that he had held dear being destroyed. Being back here a Hogwarts, seeing all those people. It had brought it all back to him.

He woke up screaming and shaking his teeth rattling. He leaned over and puked on the floor besides his bed. After he quickly cleaned op his mess he noticed Neville and Ron standing besides his bed looking worried. Dean and Seamus were standing at the foot of his bed. They looked frightened.

It took Harry a moment to realise what was going on, he was used to his nightmares, granted it had been a while since the last really bad one. Then he realized his screaming must have woken everyone up. _'Darn, I though I taught myself not to scream. Stupid, stupid! You should have put a silencing charm around your bed, Potter.'_ he though angrily at himself. _'Way to freak out your room mates.'_

'Oh, I'm so sorry.' he said miserably. 'I forgot the silencing charm.'

'You mean you often have nightmares like that?' Ron asked in a quiet voice.

Harry nodded still feeling shakily from his dream. 'I've had them on and off for years but I've learned not to scream most of the time, don't know why I did now. The Dursleys really don't like to be woken up like this. I'm really sorry about it.'

Seamus looked nervous but clearly wanted to ask something. Then he blurted it out quickly. 'It because of you-know…?'

Ron shot him a furious glare, but Harry did not answer.

Harry tried to reassure Ron and Neville that he was fine and that he did not need the school nurse, but they would hear none of it. They got dressed and frog marched him to the hospital wing.

'I'm fine really, we don't have to be here, you'll get yourself in trouble.' Harry protested one final time as they entered the hospital room.

'Nice try mate, but I don't think you should be having nightmares like that.' Ron answered.

'I'm used to it by now; I get a lot of work done at night.' Harry tried again.

'Harry your not suppose to be studying at night, you're suppose to be sleeping.' Neville added.

'Listen guys, I'm used to only sleeping four hours a night. It's been a habit for the past ten years. I'm fine really.'

'We'll let madam Pomfrey decide about that.' Ron said. 'Ah here she comes now.'

'What can I do for you?' she asked friendly.

'It's really nothing.' Harry tried a final time.

'No it's not and you know it.' Ron snapped back.

'It's Harry.' Neville started.

'Yeah, his had a terrible nightmare and woke us all up.' Ron finished.

'Well having a nightmare in a new place isn't so unusual.' said Madam Pomfrey.

'See I told you.' Harry began annoyed.

'But it isn't because of that.' Ron answered. 'He told us that he always gets them and that he only sleeps four hours a night. That isn't normal.' Neville nodded and added when Ron had finished. 'He also became physically ill afterwards when he woke up.'

'My, my, your friends were totally right to bring you here Mr. Potter.' Madam Pomfrey said. 'Tell me how long has this been going on?'

Harry just glared at his friends. As much a he loved Ron and Neville, he wanted to kill them right now. He did not want any attention focused on him and this would definitely do that. He also did not want to spend his first night back at Hogwarts in the hospital wing.

When it was clear that Harry was not going to answer Neville piped up. 'He said it's been going on for the past ten years.'

Madam Pomfrey frowned at that. 'Has no one ever notice your bazaar sleeping patterns?'

'No, I knew better than to bother my aunt with it. I was perfectly happy being left alone in my cupboard. I don't need help. I don't have a problem. I get a lot done at night, it's nice and quiet and there's no one to bother me.' Harry answered; he was starting to get angry.

'I think you should stay here the night.' she said pointing to a bed.

'But I can't sleep after I've woken up like that; I will just go up to my dorm and read.' Harry tried.

'I think not. Get into bed Mr. Potter.' she said sternly. 'It is late you two, thank you for bringing him to me. You should return to your dorm now. Don't worry he'll be fine.'

'Bye, Harry.' Ron greeted.

'Sorry Harry, I know how it feels, I also had a dream problem. If you need someone to talk to…' Neville said before leaving.

As angry as he was, Neville's last words was comforting and shocking at the same time. He never knew about it in his other live. He suppose that seeing your parents like Neville did, would be reason enough to cause night terrors.

'_How on earth am I going to explain my nightmares? I can't ruddy well say that it is memories of my other life that is plaguing my sleep.' _

'Now Harry, do you care to explain what you were dreaming?' she asked gently.

'I'd rather not, if you don't mind.' Harry tried to answer as civilly as he could manage.

'You know I can't help you if you don't tell me.'

'Fine I'll tell you.' Harry snapped back. He had decided to tell her about the memories he saw when he was in the presence of dementors. Although he generally did not dream about that nowadays it did bother him a lot when he was still at school, in his other life. Especially in his third and fourth years. 'I see my parents being murdered, I hear my father duelling him. I hear my mom pleading for my life; I hear her screaming as he kills her. I see Voldemort lifting his wand saying that foul cures. I see the green beam of deadly magical energy. Is that what you wanted to hear! Are you satisfied now?' Harry shouted with tears in his eyes.

He was acting, exaggerating his response and emotions, but it nonetheless still hurt talking about it. The nurse just looked pale. She did not say anything for a long while.

'Okay Harry, thank you for telling me.' She managed in a soft voice. 'I have a potion you can use to help you to sleep.'

'No thank you.' Harry answered. 'I once knew a person that said that potions only postpone the time till you had to deal with your feelings. He was right, it doesn't help, and in fact it makes it more painful when the feelings finally hit you. My dreams keep me motivated; it is a constant reminder of what I must do.' Harry really did not like taking sleeping potions it was just too dangerous. In the war, it could cause your death if you did not wake up when something happened. Potions also had the side effect of weakening your mental barriers, he could not afford that.

Madam Pomfrey was shocked. In all her live, she had never come across someone like the strange eleven-year-old sitting in the bed in front of her. He had, had the worst dream imaginable but he didn't want to forget about it. He explained it in such a grownup way… it was almost scary. What did he mean by it keeps him motivated. She really didn't understand what he was saying?

'Well if you are sure. But I would rather you did take the potion. Anyway I would still like you to stay here the night and do try to get some sleep.'

'I'm sure.' Harry answered. 'I will try to sleep but I don't think it will happen. I've never slept through the night. Even without the nightmares I usually only manage five hours.'

She just nodded and walked away.

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I had a bit of writers' block so I used a lot from the books. Sorry about that. The rest of the story won't be like this chapter.

Thanks a lot for reviewing!!!!!!!

pottersparky, _Jensindenial3516, _Taeniaea, _Aki no Yume1, _ahappyjtm, _jbfritz, _anaknisatanas, _The-Resident _, Hi-Mahou, _NovaBladeZ, _jabarber69, _Sylkie, _Weasel Debater , _tlfsjs, _Alexandria Jaganshi, _hpnut1 , _Twin Tails Speed , _stonegnome1 _

I love feedback so please tell me what you think about the chapter, any insightful questions opinions or comments are welcome.

Amberile B-)


	9. Life as a first year

Fight against Fate 

**Important author note: **

**I accidentally posted the wrong version of my story, **_**sooooo**_** sorry about that. As for my using other stories in mine, I am happy to say this is the last time it will happen, from now on it is all my own work. Get ready for elves and a quest for a powerful artifact that will unite the forces of good and help in the war. Canon will truly be gone after first year. **

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Some of the ideas in this chapter come from the story Nightmare of Futures Past by S'TarKan. Great story go read it. I give full credit to the author for his ideas.**

Once again a big thanks to my beta Weasel Debater and my new helper pbdp. 

Finally the scene we've all been waiting for, potions. Lots of fun ahead. Please read and review.

**Chapter 8 Life as a first year**

The next morning, Harry woke up at about five. He did manage to slumber in at about three in the morning. He got up and went back to his dorm. He had planned to start running again this morning but did not feel like it now. Maybe he could convince the others to join him tomorrow. It was always more fun if you did it in a group. The group effort would also prevent laziness. He got his stuff and went to shower. He really did not like the hospital wing. '_So much for my efforts to stay out of that place_.' After his shower he went for a walk by the lake while he played a sad tune on his flute.

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Whispers, pointing, and staring followed him throughout the castle from class to class. Harry had helped all of the Gryffindor first years, quite a lot by showing them to the correct classrooms and helping them to avoid Peeves. He still had to be careful though, that he did not display a suspicious degree of familiarity with the castle. Luckily, nobody noticed except for Percy, he kept peppering Harry with questions about how he knew the castle so well. Harry ended up lying to him and told him he had read _Hogwarts a History_ before he came. This had just the opposite effect than Harry had hoped for; apparently Percy knew the whole book of by heart and knew that Harry was lying. So Harry just avoiding Percy whenever he could. _'So much for improving my relationship with him this time.'_

The first few days passed slowly for Harry. He was never good at Astronomy and Herbology and now he had to learn al that useless information, about the movements of planets and the correct grooming of fungi, all over again. _'If they taught us the practical application like healing, it would be a lot more useful. I learned more about plants in my three years of herbal healing self study, than in six years of magical education.'_

History of Magic was still the most boring class ever and Professor Binns was as "dead" as ever. This was Fates cruellest trick. Having to live through that class once was bad enough… _'Why, why, why did it have to be me…?' _

Flitwick once again stood on a pile of books to see over his desk. When he fell off his chair during the roll call, it still brought an embarrassed smile to Harry's face.

The strict and clever McGonagall gave them a talking-to the moment they had sat down in her class. _'Good old Minerva, hard as stone and telling it as it is. You don't fool me anymore you old softy.'_ Harry thought endearingly. He knew how deeply she cared for all her students.

Harry was unimpressed when she turned her desk into a pig. He knew she could do things a lot more difficult and impressive. That was just a simple demonstration. After that, they had to copy down notes. _'I can't believe I thought this was complicated the first time; it's almost too simple. I mean how difficult is it to turn a stupid match into a needle?'_

Harry had decided before he came to Hogwarts to never outperform Hermione. It would not be fair. He only did anything once she had done it correctly first. His help over the years seemed to give her an even bigger edge than she had the first time round. At the end of class he and Hermione each had a pile of perfect needles. The other students watched them jealously they had not even managed to change the colour of their matches.

'He and Hermione had actually been bored and had a little contest to take up their time. He won by three needles.

Sitting through his first Defence Against the Dark Arts class could be compared to torture. Quirrell was still a stuttering nervous idiot with a garlic problem. Harry knew he could not do anything yet and he had to almost constantly remind himself to act normal. He sighed; _there was nothing to be done for the Defence professor. His fate had been sealed in Albania when Voldemort possessed his body._ Harry also had to put his occlumatic shields on high alert. He could not afford Voldemort to see his thoughts. Harry was a very good Occlumens, but his young body and weaker magic had trouble protecting his more skilled mind for such a long period. He was exhausted mentally and physically after that class and had a massive headache.

Once again his friends dragged him to the hospital wing before he could get to his trunk and take one of the potions he had brewed. It warmed his heart that they already cared so much for him but he was slightly annoyed. He was used to taking care of himself; after all, he was an adult that survived a war in his other live. A war where there was, in the end, no one close to him left. It was difficult to allow others to take care of him. He had been alone for far too long.

All in all the week was very boring and he had a hard time not falling asleep in class, but he surprised all of his teachers when he answered their questions correctly after being caught half awake. He was thinking of ways how he could disguise his other books as his textbooks so that he would not be wasting all that time in class.

Harry did manage to convince his three friends to join him for his morning jog. Ron was very unwilling but Hermione somehow convince him. Harry smiled at that. _'Maybe they would get together sooner this time round.' _

Harry's friends were all very unfit and it took them a long time to get use to their new morning ritual. Neville had the most difficult time of them all but he did not complain, he liked spending the time with his new friends. He had never before had any and this was a very new and enjoyable experience. Even if he had trouble breathing at the moment.

Friday came quite quickly, and double potions with the Slytherins arrived to the misery of all the young Gryffindors first years. Harry had sent a letter to Hagrid that morning asking him if he could meet him that afternoon.

_Dear Hagrid_ (it said.)

_I've heard that you knew my parents and that you rescued me from my home on that night. I would dearly like to meet you and thank you for that. Could I come around at three? Please send your reply back with Hedwig. Harry _

Harry knew that that was not the greatest letter ever written, but he somehow knew Hagrid would be delighted to meet him. He was right; he received Hagrid enthusiastic reply just before they headed off towards the dreaded dungeons for their first torture session, namely potions class.

Harry rechecked his Occlumency barrier for the tenth time before he entered the dark classroom. At least the note from Hagrid gave him something to look forward to, however small or rather large in Hagrid's case it might be. He stayed silent as he set his things on the table and prepared his parchment for taking notes during the supposed lesson. Harry still felt that Snape's method of teaching was crap and a waste of all the poor students' time. That anyone managed to pass their OWLs was a huge miracle. Harry looked up without flinching, staring the greasy bat directly in the eyes when the potions master swept into the room cloak bellowing behind him. Harry laughed at this mental image his cloak almost looked like huge wings.

Snape, like little Professor Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name. Harry felt annoyed at all the attention he was getting, he knew he should be used of it by now but he just could not seem to get over the fact that he would never be normal or have a normal life.

'Ah, yes,' the professor said softly, 'Harry Potter, Our new celebrity.'

Harry clenched his teeth at the sneering professor tone. Mentally trying hard to control him self. _'Don't hex him, don't hex him, don't hex him, don't __**kill**__ him.'_ Unfortunately it just did not seem to work, it took all of his energy not to jump from his seat and curse the bastard that killed Dumbledore.

Draco Malfoy and his minions Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands but Harry ignored them, he had bigger fish to fry. He would deal with the ferret, dumb and dumber later. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His black menacing eyes were cold and empty like the pits of hell.

---------

Snape was casually scanning the class like he did every year with the new students. He liked to know which students know anything about potions so that he could focus on the stupid muggleborn children that were likely to blow up the class. It was while he was busy with his little mind probe that he came across something that he never thought possible with the first years and a muggle raised one at that.

---------

Harry unfortunately did not know the purpose of this mental intrusion and immediately saw it as a threat and violation he met Snape's eyes, the moment he detected the subtle thrust of Legilimency, lightly probing at his outer mental barriers. Harry saw no use in hiding his strong mental barriers because Dumbledore already knew about his skill in the mind arts. He was still mad at himself for the tactless way he handled that situation. His initial plan was to fake that he was a natural Occlumens but he realised that he was totally rubbish at planning and sticking to plan. It was a result of living on the edge where split second decisions were needed, not leisurely planning.

------

Snape decided to go on with class as if he did not notice anything different but he was intrigued. All his years op spying made it almost impossible for him to resist the challenge of finding out exactly what was going on. So he began to lightly scan the outer barrier of the young boys mind. The fact that this was a Potter removed any possible small thought of guilt the harden spy would have felt for any other student.

------

The professor's he held forth on the intricacies of potion making, on indication of what he was really doing to Harry. For his own part, Harry had to struggle to remain impassive. _'Don't Kill him, don't attack him.'_ The knowledge that this filthy Death Eater had been rifling through his mind from the first day angered him almost beyond his own control.

'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,' Snape began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but the students caught every word, except for Harry, he was to busy trying to keep that bastard out of his head.

Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.

'As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching their mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper to death—if you aren't as big as a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.'

'_When did he ever teach anything in his life?'_ Harry though _'Writing stuff of a board and letting people figure it out for themselves is not teaching.' _

Silence followed this little speech, and Harry waited for Snape to explode on him.

'Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?'

'Draught of Living Death, sir,' Harry answered without wavering a second. The class held their breath, afraid of their new teacher and silently rooting for their classmate brave enough to answer. Snape was incredibly surprised that a muggle-raised boy would know the answer.

Harry remembered that this would happen in his first class. He was not about to take the same kind of crap this time round. He had spent a lot of time, the month before school started, going over all of his school potion books to prepare himself for this class.

'Where would I find a bezoar?' Snape snapped increasing his Legilimency, probing more insistently at Harry's shields.

'Inside the stomach of a goat.' Harry replied evenly. _He tried not to get sick at the memory of Ron almost dying from the poisoned mead Slughorn gave him. That was another thing Draco was responsible for. Luckily he had managed to save his friends in time. Although it had only extended his live for a few years. _

'What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?'

'Nothing sir, they are the same plant. Muggle botanists call it aconite.'

Harry felt the battering ram of Snape's attack crash into his shields. He knew Snape would be insistent but he had no idea he would be this brutal. Harry was used to fending of attacks in his other live, he and Voldemort had almost a "nightly appointment", but his young body was not prepared for this onslaught. He flinched but did not show any other reaction

'What is the main ingredient of the restorative draught for petrified people?'

'That would be the mandrake plant… sir.' _Harry would never forget that. Those ugly little plants saved Hermione in his second year. It's not easy to forget a snake that size.'_

Repeatedly Snape bashed into his shields. It was starting to hurt, but he would not give in. Too much depended on him keeping his thought and memories private.

'Lacewing flies and knotgrass, Potter. What potion uses both ingredients?'

'That would be the Polyjuice Potion, sir.' '_I will never forget brewing that one in a girl's bathroom to break into the Slytherin common room. Hermione was brilliant even then. _Snape was trying to catch him out with questions much more advanced than Harry could possibly have known. The fact that the he still knew the answers must be driving the stupid git half mad. Add to that the fact that he could not break through the mental shields of an eleven year old… _Harry knew he was being a little indiscreet, okay being totally indiscreet. He just could not help himself. At this moment, this was the only way he could get to the potions master._

'What is the name of the colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth?' Snape asked sure this insufferable brat would not know the answer. This was N.E.W.T.s. level potions.

'That would be Veritaserum, sir. ' Harry answered promptly. _He had often used that potion to interrogate prisoners during the war. He also remembered Umbridge trying to give it to him in his fifth year to find out what he knew of Sirius where about._

That got a furious glare from Professor Snape, who continued to fire questions at Harry for more than fifteen minutes. Harry was getting a worsening tension headache, but managed to answer all question correctly. Finally, Snape appeared to have grown tired of this game.

'Please explain your unbelievable knowledge of potion and ingredients, Potter? Decided to show off in front of your peers? Grab a little more limelight to inflate your huge ego even more?'

'That was not my intention sir' Harry responded coolly, if Snape only knew how very little he thought of himself. He did not let it show though, never show weakness in front of the enemy. That was a lesson he had learned the hard way when he and Ron were captured and tortured in his other live. They were lucky that Voldy wanted to kill Harry himself or they would have died that day. Luckily the death eaters were dumb new recruits so they manage they escape after a day. But he still learnt a lot out of that experience.

'I just read a bit ahead after I got my books, anyway Hermione also knew all that stuff we studied together almost all of the summer.' he paused for a moment, not able to resist insulting the potions master's obsession. 'Anyway it's not like this is really hard, is it? You just get the ingredients together and follow the instructions. Its not even real magic.' he shrugged inside feeling a smug satisfaction.

Harry had to hold himself rigid to keep from blacking out from the sudden furious thrust of the man's Legilimency. Harry's barriers still held, which no doubt infuriated the man even more. _'Maybe that wasn't the brightest idea.'_ he thought in pain.

'Well? Why are you all not copying that down?' Professor Snape cried out, as there was sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. He could barley kept control of him self.

Later on in the class, Snape had placed them all into pairs, and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. Harry, who was working next to Neville and Seamus, began whispering instructions to Neville, who had no idea what to do.

By the end of the potions class—an hour later, most of the Gryffindors had a perfect potion. Neville did not blow up a cauldron and was more confident with his own skills. Half the Slytherins were being lectured on their disastrous attempts. Crabbe and Goyle made a colossal blunder and their potion had to be chiselled out of the cauldron. Gryffindor had not earned any points, though, and that was very unfair.

Harry could not get out of that classroom quick enough. Snape had attacked him right through the entire lesson. Harry sank down on his haunches just outside the room leaning against the wall, and held his aching head. He was literally seeing spots in front of his eyes. Just sitting there in class, letting Snape pound on his mind without retaliating was more exhausting than he thought it would be. He looked up when Neville sat down next to him.

'Harry,' the boy said, a little hesitantly, 'are you all right?'

'I'm fine, Nev.' Harry said still rubbing his temples. He was almost totally spent. The only thing that prevented him from collapsing was his anger. He had thought that he could not hate Snape any more than he already did in his other live, he was wrong.

'Come on mate, anyone can see your not _fine._' Ron said, helping him to his feet but he could not stay upright without assistance.

'Harry what is wrong?' Hermione asked concerned.

'Snape.' Harry answered through clenched teeth before he had another black spell.

Neville and Ron balanced Harry between them with Hermione at his back preventing him from falling over backwards. The friends wanted desperately to know what was going on but Harry was in no condition to talk.

'Just take me up to our dorm; I'll be fine in a moment. I just need to lie down and repair my shields.' Harry mumbled through gritted teeth his eyes still closed.

'Not a chance mate.' Ron answered.

'Harry what do you mean by shields.' Hermione asked.

'Never mind Mione, Ron Madam Pomfrey won't be able to do anything. I don't want to draw attention; he will think I am weak. It will only make things worse.'

'Harry…' Neville started to say something but was interrupted by McGonagall passing them in the hallway.

'I wanted to find you and find out what you did, because Professor Snape just entered the staff lounge in a incredible rage, that man never shows any emotion so you must have done something really stupid, but I think that can wait. Potter what is wrong?'

'Nothing I can't handle, just out of practice.' Harry answered winching when he opened his eyes to look at the blurry outline of the Professor.

'Mr. Potter I do not have any idea what you are talking about, but you are most certainly not fine.' With that she conjured a stretcher in mid air and restrained him on it.

'His been talking like that since we left the potions class Professor, we couldn't understand what he is on about. He only said Snape when we asked what was wrong.' Hermione said worried.

Harry was still struggling to get of the stretcher. 'I don't need to go to the hospital wing. I'm fine! I know perfectly well what the problem is and how to fix it. Anyway, I have an appointment with someone I don't want to miss.'

'Harry if you don't lay still this second mister Potter, you will force me to stun you.' McGonagall said with a hand on his shoulder pushing him down.

'Fine,' Harry said defeated. 'Just don't let him near me; I swear I will kill him if I see him before I fixed the damage his attack caused. I can't belief the bastard would do this to an eleven year old. What was he thinking! Well I shouldn't have expected anything less from a stinking, murdering, Death Eater. Loyal to Dumbledore my ass.'

'I think he's delirious.' McGonagall said worried. 'We should get him to the infirmary as fast as possible. Neville can you please go to the Headmasters office and ask him to come.'

-----------------------------------

Madam Pomfrey was shocked to see the condition Harry was in. he was as pale as a ghost with sweat running down his face and pain visible in every feature. 'What happened to him?' she asked putting him into bed immediately.

'We don't know, he sort of just collapsed after class and we don't understand what is going on, nothing he says makes any sense.' Hermione said really scared.

'Yeah, he just keeps going on about being attacked, but I don't know what he means.' Ron said.

'I know you three are concerned for your friend but I think you should leave him now so he can receive the care he needs. We'll soon have this all sorted out.' McGonagall said gently.

'Third time in the first week, there goes all my bloody good intentions and planning.' Harry mumbled miserably. While the nurse gave him a very strong pain relief potion. It made him feel a bit better but he knew that it would slightly weaken his defences and would do nothing for the actual cause of the pain. In his old body Snape would never have been able to do this to him. Compared to fighting Voldemort's onslaughts this would be little more than a small fly buzzing around his head. Unfortunately his body and magical core still have not developed to that level. He could keep Snape out but it was painful and exhausting.

Harry closed his eyes again, doing his relaxation exercises, clearing his mind and reinforcing his shields. To help him with the process he imagined he was back in the garden with Master Li, meditating like they used to do.

Suddenly Harry could feel mental fingers probing at his shields. The "touch" was much softer than Snape's battering ram approach to Legilimency, and Harry guessed it was probably Professor Dumbledore's curiosity getting the better of him. He winced, clapping his hands to the sides of his head and the fingers immediately withdrew slightly. Harry had already repaired most of his shields but it was still tender and hurt like hell the moment Dumbledore tried to probe him. He looked around blearily. 'Er, could you please, not do that, sir,' he muttered, 'I have one hell of a headache and I think one attack a day is enough for now, maybe later in the year we could work on me handling more.' he did not miss the glance the headmaster gave him. 'Anyway didn't I ask you to not do that again without my permission?'

'That's all right, Harry, I'm sorry.' the old man said in a soothing voice. Harry stared into Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes and wished he could tell his former mentor everything. He felt a feather-light touch on his shields stop.

'Thank you.' Harry said with relief.

'Care to tell me what happened Harry?' Dumbledore asked watching Harry's reaction carefully.

'Oh nothing really, your "loyal lap dog" just wanted to see how strong my shields are. It's a great way to get me into shape and exercise my skills but you should warn him though, next time I won't be so passive, next time I will fight back. I'm getting quite good at Legilimency.'

Dumbledore was stunned at how calmly Harry talked about what had happened. It also scared him that Harry knew the right terminology for what he had been doing. It meant that this was not some accidental use of a hidden skill like he initially thought after his first visit to Harry's house. Young Harry consciously exercised and studied the subject. He really did not want to know where an eleven year old got the information from. He could not even try to guess why Harry would feel it necessary to learn these skills. These subjects were ministry restricted; Legilimency was considered a dark art by some. The comment about Snape was also very unsettling.

'Albus, this is outrageous,' Minerva exclaimed. 'I will not have one of my students attacked by a professor! What did Severus do to him?'

Harry was surprised to hear Minerva defend him so vehemently after only knowing him for a week.

'Minerva,' Dumbledore's voice took on a soothing tone. 'What happened was not Severus intent, I'm sure.'

'Then what, pray tell, happened?' she asked.

'Not his intent? He battered my mind for two hours straight!' Harry yelled

'Severus Snape, have been invading the minds of students? Of MY students?' Professor McGonagall's voice rose into a shriek that raised the hairs on the back of Harry's neck.

'I think we should all calm down.' Dumbledore said with his hands raised.

'No, I think you are too calm, you should stop trusting that evil son of a bitch before he stabs you in the back and I mean it literally. He's a bloody Death Eater! The moment Voldemort return he will be back serving him, playing double agent and spy.'

McGonagall gasped at the mention of the Dark Lords name, Dumbledore as usual was not affected that way.

'Harry that is no way to talk of a professor.' Dumbledore said, once again he was shocked at the amount of knowledge this boy had, he supposedly only joined the wizarding world a month ago and this was only his first week at Hogwarts. He had never in his life seen a child act this way. Sure, he seemed normal while in the company of his friends, but when an adult confronted him, he acted quite peculiarly.

'I will not show him any respect, he doesn't deserve it. I don't need to attend his class, I can brew al the potions of the whole school syllabus up to seventh year N.E.W.T.s. The only reason I'm going to continue to attend that class is to help poor Neville. He really is a danger in a laboratory. Tell Snape to bring it on, I'll need the practise.'

Harry knew he was sending his plan to hell right now, but he was beside himself with anger and still had one gigantic headache. He really could not think straight. Being "high" on pain potion also did not help better judgement.

'Oh and next time don't force me to come to the hospital wing; I have my own supply of potions that is more specifically suited to the type of headache. I know the stuff Poppy threw down my through is nice and everything, but I don't like the effect it haves on me. I need to be in control, floating around doesn't work for me. Oh, and could you possibly go to Hagrid and tell him I won't make it today.' With that the potion kicked in completely and he passed out.

'Albus, could you please explain what just happened here? I didn't understand half of the things he said. What did he mean with "when You-Know-Who return"? He's dead, isn't he?'

'Minerva there is definitely something odd about young Harry. He is right though, Voldemort is not dead and he will return again someday.' Dumbledore answered.

'Dumbledore he is more than just a little odd, do you know the level of his magical skill. You should see him in class, pretending to struggle with his magical control just like a normal first year, but the moment Miss Granger achieves something he miraculously also manage to do the spell. He seems so bored in class, he daydream through them but still if you ask him a question he somehow know the answer. It is not the verbatim quotation Miss Granger gives, he really grasp the concepts and understand how it works. The strangest thing though is his magical energy signature; he almost uses no energy when he casts spells, with a lot more power and control than his peers do. It's almost scary to watch him in class.'

'It would appear that Harry intend to be a mystery inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma.' Dumbledore answered. 'Strange enough though, it is not his magical skill level that worries me the most, it's his mental and emotional state that concerns me. There is something wrong with him, something seriously wrong. Poppy informed me that he is also a chronic insomniac. I don't know as yet what is going on here and what actions to take, but for now we should keep a very close eye on him.'

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The next day Harry woke up in the hospital wing. He was unable to remember anything that happened after he left the potions lab. This really scared him, he needed to know, he could not handle not being in control. He left the infirmary after he was cleared by madam Pomfrey.

Harry found his friends in the common room. They looked very glad to see him but anxious to know what had happened.

'I don't know guys; I can't remember anything that happened after I left the class.' Harry admitted down cast.

'Harry you said Professor Snape attacked you.' Neville said.

'Yes he did, do you know what Legilimency is?' Harry asked.

'Oh Harry, you're not serious, are you? Hermione gasped.

'Yes I am. That's what caused my condition yesterday; it was a bigger effort to keep him out than I anticipated.'

'That evil, evil man, but Harry how did you stop him.'

'Hey guys,' Ron interrupted. 'care to explain to those how do not eat books for breakfast. What are you talking about?'

'Legilimency Ron,' Hermione explained 'Is the magical skill to read someone's mind.'

Harry noticed Neville looked at him a little funny after Hermione explained. He then got a very determined expression on his face. Harry felt his stomach flip over when he saw the boy set his jaw and frown, seeing the ghost of the friend who stood beside him through out the war.

'Harry, he had no business doing that to you. I've heard so many stories about the potions teacher at Hogwarts that I was a little afraid about taking his class. Now I see he's just nothing more than a childish bully. He is one sorry excuse for a wizard; we should find a way to stop him.' Neville declared.

'That's great Neville but at this moment you can't protect yourself from him. How do you propose we stop him?' Harry asked.

'You said you could keep him out, how did you do that and could you possibly teach us to do it.' Hermione asked.

'Yes I could teach you Occlumency.' Harry said after a moment of thought. 'It won't be easy though. It took me a very long time to learn and years of practise.'

'I'm willing to try.' Neville answered determined.

'I guess I could give it a try.' Ron said a little unsure but he did not want to admit it.

'You know me; I'm always up for learning new skills.' Hermione added with a warm smile.

'In that case I think we should do this properly. How would you feel if I trained you in some other fields of magic as well?'

'Like what, Harry.' They almost ask in union.

'Well how would you like to become Animagi?'

'Could you really teach us to do that?' Ron asked in awe.

'Yes, that and a lot more, if you are willing. But you must promise to keep what we are doing a secret. Tell no one.'

They just stared at Harry with big eyes.

'Anyway, we'll first start with some simple defensive spells, exercise and meditation, once you manage to keep your minds save we can start with the good stuff.'

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They all went to Hagrid's hut that afternoon to have tea with him. Hagrid was very pleased to meet them all. He soon became their friend. They talked about all sorts of things and really enjoyed themselves. Harry listened in on Hagrid and Ron's conversation on Charlie's work with dragons while he picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:

_GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown._

_Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault had in fact been emptied that same day._

'_But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your nose out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts' spokesgoblin this afternoon._

Harry kept silent about it, he still did not know if he wanted to involve his friends in that business again.

-----------------------------

Okay, finally the first meeting with the greasy git. Harry loses control again, poor little control freak. Dumbles have another thing to add to his Harry Potter mystery list.

I used a line out of Terry Pratchett the fifth elephant.

I have received many complaints about the grammar used in my story. I do not know how to fix it. This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to help me and be a beta.

Thanks to :

Lady Prince; gallandro-83; Lunar-chickie-babe; pottersparky; litlittledragon; smallvillewanabe4561; googlibear; Pandor4; stealacandy; Pan06; anaknisatanas; MrPowell; Aria Dragoncrest; jabarber69; Lyrycal Rain; Silver Warrior; CanaryCream; Cherri202; Edward95; lina239; sropi;Edengrave; Morbious20; qtar1984; crazychef; KaiPhoenix; Adm. Bones; hpnut1; LadyOfTheGreyDawn; jayley; Weasel Debater; Taeniaea; windmaster324; Motherlyclucker; muntos girl; Cheezewizz; Celtic-Dragon-89; FFML Tim; Bethy Ann; Caliko; Sylkie

Please read and review (or flame as I know many will do after this chapter, sorry again I tried my best.)

Amberile


	10. Duelling Fate

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

I tried really hard to not use ideas from NoFP in this chapter, rewrote about halve of it, but just to be save: _Some of the ideas in this chapter come from the story Nightmare of Futures Past by S'TarKan._

With the rewrite the elves were unfortunately moved to the next chapter, but I think this is my longest chapter yet so it makes up for that.

Big thanks to my springboard **pbdp** (het jou hoek lyn en sinker, mhahahahaha)

To my old and trusty beta **Weasel Debater**, keep up the good work.

Lastly a warm welcome and thank you to my new Beta **sarini**

**Chapter 9 Duelling Fate **

That afternoon after they got back from Hagrid Harry went up to his dorm to write letters to Ginny, Mrs. De Villiers and Master Li. His master still did not know of the magical world and Harry had instructed Hedwig to drop of the letters to him in the night in front of his door. Harry planned to tell him at Christmas when he would be visiting him. He wanted to share his world with his Master that did so much for him over the years. He reckoned that he had already told one muggle, another would not matter much. He could not care less about the stupid ministry and their regulations. Mrs De Viliers knew all about their new world and he knew she could not wait to hear back from her two favourite ex-students.

The letter to Ginny was where the real problem lied. It was very difficult to write to her; he was not supposed to know her yet and he had to remind himself that she was only ten. She was not the Ginny he had loved and lost. She was not his Ginny. He did not want to scare her away. He wrote a letter that he hoped would start a bond of friendship. In his letter he thanked her again for helping him on the platform and told her about what happened in the week that had past. He was quite surprised to see how long it was once it was finished.

'To who's the novel mate?' Ron asked when Harry pasted himself in the common room chairs.'

'Oh, I met this really nice girl on the platform the day we came here; we decided to become quill palls.' Harry answered.

'What's your girlfriends name Harry?' Neville asked with a grin.

'She is not my girlfriend. Harry answered with a blush and could not help adding the word "_yet_" in his mind. 'She is a girl that is my friend, kind of like Hermione. Her name is Ginny.'

'Oi, that is my sister.' Ron said sitting straight, eyeing Harry.

'Oh, I didn't know that.' Harry lied, feeling horrible as he did it. 'Looks like all Weasleys are the nicest people there are. I'm starting to love your family Ron.'

Harry thought about all the Weasleys he had known in his other life, not everything was bad about it. He did have good times. The twins alone had a whole section in Harry's mind that was patronus worthy.

Ron did not say anything more – how could he complain after a compliment like that – his ears did start to glow a little red though.

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That Sunday morning they started their training bright and early. Harry led his three friends at slow jog around the Hogwarts Lake. Harry was planning to work towards the level of fitness he had in his other live. After all the years of training under the guidance of Master Li, Harry had become a bit obsessed with physically training his body. His obsession is what led him to the discovery of bodymagic. His memories of the Hit Wizard squad in his other life spurred him on even further. He could clearly remember how it affected their efficiency and power during the war. They had more agility and could duck and dodge curses more easily, sometimes seemingly without any effort. Moody had tried to drill it into Harry before he died but it was too little too late. Harry often trained with the military wizards in an effort to make up for what he lacked. Unfortunately he never got to the level that the war required. Because of their lack of skills he and his friends suffered injury after injury till their numbers slowly decreased. Harry often blamed some of their losses on their fear to get up close to the enemy and fight dirty.

Somehow, Harry would have to teach that to his friends this time, without them getting suspicious of him. He intended for his friends to be able to defend themselves the best way he knew how. If he had to form Dumbledore's Army all over again in this timeline, then he intended to make it an army in more than just name. He really regretted that he did not continue with the DA in his sixth year, maybe if he did, more would have responded the night Dumbledore died. Starting the DA again would take a lot of planning and some mild deception. This worried him because he had realized that he was rubbish at sticking to a plan and he hated to lie to his friends. His whole situation was starting to wear on him. He was just so tired of it all. He wanted out desperately; having the safety of the future world rest on your shoulders was indeed a heavy burden to bear.

His friends panting behind him made him look back and drew him out of his thoughts. He saw they were starting to tire. He realized all of them were breathing hard. Neville's face was pale and sweaty and it seemed like he just couldn't catch his breath. Nonetheless, his three friends were following him even if they were about to pass out. Hermione surprisingly was the fittest of the lot and could almost keep up with Harry's pace. Harry slowed his pace to the immense relief of his three weary friends. He led them at a fast walk back to the castle as a cool down. Harry did not want his friends to cramp up after their first day. That would only discourage them and Harry could not afford that; his friends needed to be in top shape for his plans to work.

They cleaned up, showered and went to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were the only ones there that early in the morning but the food appeared the moment they sat down. _'House elves really were wonderful creatures,'_ Harry thought with a smile, wondering if SPEW would see the light in this time line.

After they had finished he led them to a secluded spot on the lakeshore. He was not yet ready to give away the location of the room of requirements. As yet he still had to start his training in the Dark Arts but his unexpected visits to the infirmary interfered with his planning. He was also starting to think that it would be safer to wait until he got his invisibility cloak before he started to sneak around the castle.

Harry started off by teaching them the disarming charm _Expelliarmus._ He reckoned they must first build up their magical strength before attempting to protect their minds with magic. If their magic was still unstable it could be dangerous. Teaching them this "simple" spell was more difficult and took a lot longer to do than Harry had expected. He could not blame his friends though; they only had a week of magical education and could not possibly be expected to grasp their magic yet. They needed to get used to how it felt to use their magic. They needed to discover the flow of energy that was hidden inside of them. He did not know how he could speed up the process. _'I guess only practise will do that,'_ he thought.

His friends were exhausted after their efforts. Only Hermione had managed the spell after an hour of trying. Although she was used to using her magic, she still had trouble using her wand as she was more accustomed to doing everything wandlessly. They all lay on the grass under a tree looking at the clouds.

'Harry,' Hermione said after a while, 'how do you know all this stuff you want to teach us?'

'I read a lot, you know that,' Harry answered still looking at the sky.

'Yes, but I also do a lot of reading – in fact more than you – and I still don't know half of it.'

'I don't know, Mione, I just do, and I have an affinity for defence I guess,' Harry tried to answer nonchalantly; inside he was nervous as hell. She really was the smartest witch he had ever met.

'She's right, Har, how do you do some of the things you do? That thing you did on the train was amazing,' Ron joined in.

'Yeah, wandless magic is supposedly incredibly difficult,' Neville said. 'Me Gran once told me that only the most skilled sorcerers like Dumbledore could do it.'

'Don't know, it's not that difficult. Right Hermione, you just focus your magic and channel it through your fingers instead of your wand. We've been doing it for years now,' Harry shrugged.

'That's another thing,' Hermione started again, sounding a little angry. 'Why are you holding back in class? I know you can do all those things in your sleep, and without a wand at that, but you act as if you barely have a grasp of magic. Why do you let me get all the credit in class?'

'You're a brilliant witch, Hermione. You deserve all the credit you get. I mean, you learn everything so fast; it took me years to get some of the things you figure out in seconds. I'll never be as clever as you. Besides, I would sort of feel like cheating if I did it in class. I mean, I did have about six years of a head start,' Harry answered.

'What do you mean, Harry?' Neville asked.

'Well I made myself a wand, so actually I have years of practise while you are just starting out now.'

'That would explain a lot,' Ron said sounding almost relieved. 'You were really starting to freak me out with some of the things you do; I couldn't understand how you did it. It makes sense that you would have more skills considering you have been using magic a lot longer than we have.'

'Yeah,' Neville agreed.

'Well you'll soon be just as good as me, if you just keep practicing. The more you use magic, the easier it is to use. Once you are comfortable using your own power there really isn't a limit to what you can do. I mean I can do wandless magic, I'm a metamorphmagus, an animagus, an excellent Occlumens and I'm starting to grasp Legimency, not to mention all the alternative magic Hermione and I discovered, oh and there's the whole snake thing.'

The friends just nodded, astounded by their friend. He did not brag with his skills; he was rather encouraging them to improve themselves. Harry did not notice his friends' reactions and continued talking.

'Oh by the way, Neville, Amberile asked if you could get her some of the treats you give to Trevor. Apparently, the little snake has developed an appetite for it. She said that seeing as she's a reformed "person" now, it would not do to steal a poor toad's food.

Neville just laughed at that. 'Sure mate, who can deny that pretty lady anything. You're so whipped. Besides, I know she'll hiss your ears off your head till I get it for you. You really should have gotten a less chatty snake.'

'Don't let her hear you – she might just decide to drop all of her good intentions and bite you. Believe me, it would not be nice. I still haven't managed to brew an antidote for her venom,' Harry laughed back.

'It's not nice to threaten your friends with a poisonous magical snake, Harry,' Hermione mockingly scolded, joining in the fun with this pretence.

'Well then, I would propose that you not insult her. She really is a sensitive soul,' Harry answered with a wicked grin. The friends all started laughing, enjoying the day together.

They did not know that they were being watched the entire time they were outside by a tabby cat with markings around her eyes.

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Harry was particularly careful when classes resumed on Monday. The situation with Snape and Malfoy was deteriorating far faster than he remembered from the other time line. He had hoped the incident on the train would have encouraged the Slytherin to reconsider his path. Instead, it must have infuriated the pureblood so much that he made double the effort to be the most hateful person Harry had ever met. Snape's repeated failures to violate Harry's mind seemed to have also set the professor on the warpath.

Harry was thankful that he only had to deal with them in the potions class. The rest of the time he tried to avoid them, which was fairly easy considering his knowledge of the castle.

As Thursday arrived and their time for their first flying lesson got closer, Harry was still wondering what he should do. He nervously played with his food as he debated with himself. _'Retrieving Neville's Remembrall in my other life had gotten me a spot on the Quidditch team as the seeker. On the other hand, Neville had to fall off his broom and break his wrist.'_ Harry did not want to change events this early. However, he doubted if his spot on the Quidditch team was really _that_ important. He enjoyed playing the game and flying immensely, even though he had not gotten to play since that last pick-up game at The Burrow before he went of to find those cursed Horcruxes.

Harry clenched his jaw. '_To hell with bloody Fate!' _he thought with resolve. _'I'm not going let my friend get hurt, even if it is just a broken wrist.'_ He still had conflicting ideas fighting each other. _'Anyway,'_ he tried to convince himself. _'If I change things too much, well, they could hardly turn out worse, could they?'_ He truly did not know if it could get worse but he really hoped not. _'As long as I don't completely mess up and blow my cover, I'll change as much as I can, and Merlin helps anyone that tries to threaten my friends this time around.'_

'Hey mate, are you ok?'

Harry blinked and looked up into Ron's concerned blue eyes. 'Wha…?' he asked still stuck in his thoughts. Then he registered what Ron asked. 'Oh, I was just thinking a bit.'

His friend frowned. 'Your not worrying about the flying lesson, are you?' Ron asked in a comforting tone. 'It's really a lot easier than it looks. I mean with all your other talents it would hardly be a problem to learn how to fly.'

He glanced over at Hermione who was frantically paging through _Quidditch Through the Ages_, trying in vain to grasp the secret of flying before the lesson'_She would never change in that regard_,' Harry smiled faintly at that thought.

'Bill and Charlie said that their muggle-born friends all started off really nervous, but ended up doing great. However, Fred and George complain that the school brooms start to vibrate if you fly too high, or always fly slightly to the left. So you should still be careful. Then again with the stuff they do on brooms you could hardly blame the broom for bucking a bit.' Ron laughed.

Harry looked over at his other friend Neville, but the timid boy was staring down at his plate, not eating anything, only playing with his food. He wanted to reassure his friend that he would do fine; he would make sure that Neville did fine.

Neville, as if in a spot and caught up in his own world of fear and doubt, did not register that. 'My gram never let me on a broom at home. She was afraid I would break my neck, or any bone for that matter.' Any questions Harry had about interfering on his shy friend's behalf were wiped away by the hopeless and worried look on his friend's face. Fate would have to alter her plans.

'I've never flown either, Nev,' Harry said, while adding in his head,_'in this life.'_ It was another of those little lies that came down to relativity. Harry was starting to hate them, even if they were necessary. At his moment he would say or do anything to reassure his friend. 'We're in the same boat really. I don't have an advantage like in the other classes and I don't think this is something you can learn from a book. Ron will have to show us how it's done. He's the expert of the day.'

Neville nodded and began to tentatively take bites of his food. Ron's ears went pink at the praise, but he did not seem to want to show off as much as Harry remembered. They were even spared that ridiculous hang glider story he had told Harry in the previous time line.

The arrival of a barn owl cheered Neville slightly. It had brought him a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

'It's a Remembrall!' he explained. 'Gran knows I forget things—this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red—oh...' his face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, '... you've forgotten something...'

'There is a spell I can put on it so that instead of red smoke, it will show you a picture of whatever you've forgotten.' Harry offered. 'Just don't forget where the Remembrall is.'

'Would you? I'd really appreciate that. I can never remember what I forgot.'

'No prob, Nev.'

At that moment Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hands. This time Harry did not even bother to get up and he gestured for Ron to stay seated.

'Malfoy, I warned you on the train, I've got an AK specially reserved for you.' With that, Harry summoned the Remembrall out of the ferret's hands.

Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. 'What's going on?'

Harry answered. 'Draco and I were just having a little chat but I think he will be leaving now. Isn't that right?'

Scowling, Malfoy quickly left for the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him.

'Harry,' Hermione asked in shock. 'Why did you threaten him like that?'

'That wasn't a threat. That was a promise.' he answered coldly thinking of how Ginny died again.

Before Hermione could say more though, Hedwig swooped down with two letters attached to her leg. Harry's face brightened when he saw from who they were. They were letters from Mrs. De Villiers and Ginny. Harry did not mind showing his letter from his old teacher to Hermione, but the one from Ginny he did not want to share with his friends. They were still taunting him for writing to a girl he had only met once. They also seemed a little upset about what had transpired between Draco and himself just now. He got up and went to Gryffindor tower to read his letter in private.

The arrival of the letters totally changed his mood and that confused him. Why would one letter affect him so much? He thought he would be happy to receive letter from Ginny once again, but at the moment he felt incredibly sad.

-------------------------------------

At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

Harry's heart could not help but leap as they walked to their first lesson. He loved flying – the feeling of absolute freedom, no pressure or expectations, just open air and space. It had been such a long time since his last flight that he did not even mind the creaky old school broom. He caught Ron's eye as they approached the Slytherins gathered around the broomsticks.

'We must keep a sharp eye out today, be on alert,' he whispered to Ron.

The redhead just frowned at him confused. Harry rolled his eyes, still whispering he explained, 'I don't trust the Slytherins. Most of them are nasty little brats.'

Understanding dawned on Ron and he gave a curt nod. Harry made sure he was walking in the middle of Neville and Hermione when they arrived.

Madam Hooch's introduction went the same as he remembered; she still had short grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.

'Well, what are you all waiting for?' she barked. 'Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up.'

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. This was definitely not his Firebolt; he missed that broom so much. It had been broken in one of the battles during the war. Trying to escape on a broken broom was not a fun experience.

'Stick out your right hand over your broom,' called Madam Hooch at the front, 'and say 'Up'!'

'UP!' Everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but again it was one of the few that did. Hermione's and Neville's had simply rolled over on the ground.

'Neville, Hermione…' Harry whispered, 'just say up, not in a commanding tone, I mean... just say it?'

They both gave him a confused look before replying.

'What do you mean?' Hermione asked but Neville just tried it and immediately his broom jumped into his hand.

'Oh, I see,' she said and also did the same, then looked back at the grinning Harry and thanked him.

'No big,' Harry replied happily.

Clearly, confidence had something to do with one's flying ability because Neville had managed to summon his broom a lot quicker this time around.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry, Ron and Neville were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

As they prepared to take off, Harry put a reassuring hand on Neville's shoulder. 'Calm down, Nev, take it slowly. You won't be left behind, you'll do fine and I'll be right there with you. We have your back mate. Make sure you don't kick off too hard okay,' he said quietly. 'We don't want you zooming through the clouds.' As a reply Neville just nodded with a nervous smile.

This time Neville kept it under control and only raised a couple of feet into the air. Madam Hooch had them repeat the exercise a few times until everyone was comfortable. Then she began to explain how to turn and he and Neville both turned smoothly.

This was really boring for Harry. He wanted to experience the sense of freedom he always felt when he was zooming through the sky at brake neck speeds. Hovering on an old school broom was agony.

Harry smiled at the relieved Neville. 'See, it isn't that difficult.'

'No it's not, I think that I actually enjoy flying, maybe I can ask Gran for a broom this Christmas.'

Madam Hooch let them now fly around a bit so they could get a better feel for flying. Harry and Neville slowly went up higher and higher as Neville gained more confidence. They were up quite high when Neville's Remembrall slipped out of his pocket.

Harry immediately plunged after it. It was an instinct born out of years of playing Quidditch. He sped forward, leaning downwards and gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball, the wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching. He stretched out his hand and a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom up, flying back to the stunned Neville with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

'Here you go, Nev,' Harry smiled.

Before Neville could thank him, Harry saw Draco crashing into Hermione knocking her of her broom. Harry's blood went cold, Madam Hooch's back was turned to them and she would not be able to save Hermione. He did not have time to panic. He immediately went into action mode; years of fighting in the war had taught him that. He flew as fast as he could towards the falling Hermione and at the same time he pushed as much of his power as he could into the levitation spell wandlessly. He did not even think of hiding his power or using his wand – he was working purely on instinct.

Hermione slowed considerably, but he could not make her stop falling. She hit the ground with a thud. She had knocked her head on a rock and was unconscious and had broken her left leg. Harry landed beside her only a few seconds later. By the time the startled teacher reached them, he had already preformed the preliminary first aid charms. All without a wand.

Hermione was secured on a spine board with a neck brace Harry had conjured out of thin air; he also splinted her leg and was busy doing a pain relief charm.

The whole time while he was busy, he muttered. 'Not again, not again. I can't handle losing you again. I won't let it happen, Fate can't have you. Not again, not again…'

'Harry,' someone said touching his shoulder. It was McGonagall. Harry did not know when she had arrived but he was relieved to see her.

Looking up at her, his hands started shaking violently as shock set in. He was as pale as a sheet. She took his hand and pulled him up and with her wand she started to levitate the stretcher with Hermione on it. 'Come, Harry, we must get you both to the hospital wing.

'I should have been faster. I should have been able to stop her. I failed her.' Harry said in barely a whisper.

'Harry, you saved her life.' McGonagall said gently. Harry did not hear his head of house he just kept on berating himself for his lack of skill. 'It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault…'

Harry was numb. He had tried to consciously do things differently, but Fate pushed back, letting events unfold just like the previous time only Hermione got hurt instead_. 'Did this mean that fate was a spiteful bitch that didn't liked to be changed?' _Did he cause Hermione's injury by trying to change things_? 'Was everything going to happen the same way again?_' It seemed like he had made a difference already with Neville, actually in all of his friends, but was he just fooling himself_? Were his friends' changed attitudes not going to make a difference … were all of his friends still going to die defending him? Was he only making their fates worse?_

He was operating pretty much on autopilot as McGonagall led him along the corridors to the infirmary.

-------------------------------------

Professor McGonagall was lost in her own thoughts.

She could not get the events of the day out of her head. She had seen the whole thing happening. She was keeping an eye on Harry just like she had promise the headmaster. She had seen how gently Harry had encouraged the shy insecure boy Neville. '_He was really a good friend for that boy.'_ This was supposedly the first time that Harry had ever ridden a broom but he looked as if he had been doing it for years, giving advice and helping the others. She had almost had a heart attack when he had caught Neville's Remembrall, but he did that without a thought, as if he did that every day for fun. At that moment she was all excited about finding a new seeker for her house Quidditch team.

And then it happened.

Hermione fell from her broom at a considerable height. This would most surely have killed the girl if Harry did not step in. It all happened so quickly she did not even have time to transform into her human form and try to help. What was amazing was that Harry did an extraordinarily powerful levitation charm without a wand. He was not even supposed to know that spell yet. First years usually learned the ordinary levitation charm, but the charm that was specifically for levitating living beings was much more advanced and difficult. What was even odder was his knowledge of first aid and healing charms. Moreover, it did not look like this was the first time he had to do something like that. He did that with the skill of a practised mediwizard – still without even thinking of using his wand.

When they reached the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey commended her for the precautions she took to stabilise and securing Hermione. The nurse was very surprised when she shook her head and pointed to the muttering boy beside her.

She really did not understand why Harry was reacting so strangely. He kept blaming himself, criticising himself over and over again. He did not seem to notice anything around him. He did not respond when she talked to him. In an effort to get his attention she stood right in front of him, her hands on his shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes. What she saw there really scared her. Those eyes looked so hollow, so haunted, and so very afraid. She saw such mental torment. What on earth could have caused this boy so much pain, self-loathing and fear? He looked absolutely lost and somehow very old and tired.

Why did he blame himself for something he had no part in? He saved his friend's life. He was a hero, but he acted as if he had pushed the girl of that broom himself.

Initially, he did not want to be treated. They had to reassure him several times that his friend was fine before he would let them near him. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with him and that his friend needed attention, not him. He still was as white as a ghost and shaking as if he was in a fit. It took two calming draughts before he stopped shaking, and then he still continued blaming himself over and over again.

After a while his tone started to change. It sounded so hateful and filled with malice. It did not make any sense though. He said something about him killing a ferret with his bare hands this time. How could you kill something twice, and why did he want to kill a ferret anyway? That was really scary to hear.

He absolutely refused to take a sleep potion. Eventually, they had to stun him to give him the potion. Apparently he had something against that potion and this was not the first time he had refused it. They decided to force it on him because the calming potion did not seem to work and they could not give him more of it. They were also starting to fear that he would hurt himself or others in that state.

Madam Pompfrey was actually more concerned over Harry than she was over Hermione. She could easily heal broken bones and concussions. Harry's condition though…

Harry was in a state of severe shock. It was strange, he had been totally calm and in control while things were happening, but the moment he had seen her and she had taken over the situation, he lost it.

Harry needed help, she knew that. He seriously needed help. The only thing was… she did not know how to go about getting it for him. They really did not know what was wrong with him and she knew Dumbledore would never consent to Harry leaving the castle to get a better diagnosis. She was slowly loosing her trust in his judgement; she would follow his orders for now but would use more discretion when reporting back.

She also had the suspicion that Harry would not acknowledge that he had a problem and would also refuse any help.

The biggest problem was that Poppy was not qualified to deal with psychological problems. She was a great healer but this was beyond her skill.

McGonagall knew Dumbledore would say that they needed more information to make a better decision. For now she would try to build up a better bond with the boy. Maybe if he trusted her he would open up a bit around her.

-----------------------------------

Harry woke up the next day at around ten in the morning. He had a colossal headache and he knew that was the after-effect of the dreamless sleep potion. He felt slightly annoyed that they had forced it into him but he had kind of lost it. At that moment he was back in his old life, he had relived all of his friends' deaths. It had been so real; it was not like his dreams. It had felt like he actually was there again. He also felt so powerless at that moment; he had felt like all his efforts were in vain. Fate would not allow him to change things. He would have to live through everything again; he would loose everything and everyone again. They would all die and it would be his fault entirely and he was powerless to stop it.

He also felt frustrated with his body. If he were at his former power level he would have been able to prevent Hermione from hitting the ground.

Maybe it was a good thing that they had restrained him. He was so angry and out of it that he would have killed Draco in cold blood if he had come across him. He felt that his soul was already blackened by all the Death Eaters he had killed, and he knew he would have to kill more people before this was over. '_Better not start the killing at eleven, the longer I can wait, the better.' _He looked around him and saw Hermione in the bed next to him.

'I see you've decided to wake up,' She smiled at him.

'Yeah, but I feel like crap. How are you?' he asked. He was immensely relieved to see that she was fine.

'I have a very big headache and my leg is still a little bit sore but considering what happened I'm just fine.'

'I'm very glad your okay, Mione. I was so worried about you. I'm so sorry I didn't stop you from falling,' he apologized.

'Harry, you saved my life, why on earth are you apologizing to me? I'm the one that should be thanking you, you're a hero.'

'No, I'm not. I should have been keeping a closer eye on you. I should have…'

'Harry, no!' Hermione interrupted him. 'You couldn't have done anything to prevent this. Bad things happen. We must learn how to deal with it. It was not your fault. I don't want you to blame yourself; you're not responsible for what happened.'

Harry just shook his head. She would not convince him that easily. She did not know how much this was a result of his interference with Fate.

'You know you scared everyone badly. They were more worried about you than they were about me.'

'Really? Why?' Harry asked confused.

'Oh, Harry,' Hermione said.

'What?'

'Never you mind,' she answered with a smile. 'You know you're one of the best friends ever.'

Harry smiled back at her. 'Well at least one good thing came out of this whole thing.'

'And what, pray tell, is that?' she asked

'We're missing potions,' he answered with an evil grin.

'You know you're really insufferable sometimes. What if we missed something important today?'

'I seriously doubt that,' he answered. 'So, when will we be able to blow this joint?'

'I'm not sure,' she answered.

They lay there and chatted almost the entire morning. Later on Professor McGonagall and Oliver Wood came to visit.

'Potter, this is Oliver Wood. He is the captain of the house Quidditch team,' Professor McGonagall said. Harry tried to arrange his face as if he did not know why on earth she would be introducing him to Wood.

'Harry, you're a natural flyer. I've never seen anything like what you did yesterday when you caught that thing Neville dropped in mid air. Was that your first time on a broomstick?'

Harry nodded silently, a necessary fib to preserve the time line.

'Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?' Wood asked excitedly.

Harry shook his head. It would not do to talk about games and a world cup that had not happened yet.

'You're just the build for a seeker,' said Wood, staring at Harry. 'Light, speedy, we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor, a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say.'

'I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Flattened in the last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks...'

Harry had just become the youngest Seeker in about a century. _Again_. He never imagined getting to play Quidditch would cause him to feel this much dread, did this mean that Fate could not be change? Was she a bitter bitch, set on her course?

-------------------------------------

'You're joking.'

Harry and Hermione were discharged just before dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron and Neville what had happened in the infirmary when Professor McGonagall had visited him. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.

'Seeker?' he said. 'But first years never…you must be the youngest house player in about…'

'A century,' said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry. 'Wood told me.'

Ron was so amazed, so impressed. He just sat and gaped at Harry.

'I start training next week,' said Harry. 'Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.'

Fred and George Weasley came into the hall, when they spotted Harry they quickly hurried over.

'Well done, Harry,' said George in a low voice. 'Wood told us. We're on the team too. We're the Beaters.'

'I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year,' said Fred. 'We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.'

'Anyways, we've got to go; Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school.'

'Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.'

_Harry smiled at the twins; he remembered all the times he snuck out of school using that very same passage. He wish he had the marauder's map but knew there were no way the twins would part with it at present; hopefully they would still give it to him in his third year._

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up – Malfoy, flanked by the two gorillas Crabbe and Goyle.

Even with his desire to avoid tempting Fate again, Harry did not want to rise to the bait when Malfoy tried to trick him into agreeing to a duel during dinner. Harry had finally decided that he did not want his friends involved in his end of year confrontation with Voldemort. If he agreed they would run into Fluffy again. He could not let that happen. He did not want Ron to get hurt like the last time he went after the stone. Neville was also an unknown factor; they were not such close friends in the first year the previous time. What would happen if he went along on that quest?

'You're a coward, attacking a girl when no one is watching,' Harry hissed after another nasty comment Draco made about Hermione.

'I'm not the one that went insane when someone got hurt. I bet you'll faint when you see blood. You're really pathetic, Potter.'

'You have no idea what you're talking of Malfoy. If you had any idea what I've seen in my live, what I'd been force to do, you'd piss in your pants and be a twitching heap.'

'That's big words for someone that doesn't want to duel.'

'I've never liked violence. It truly doesn't achieve anything except destruction and heartache. Anyway your girlfriends would feel left out.' Harry pointed at the two gorillas behind Draco.

'I'd take you on any time, on my own,' said Malfoy. 'Tonight midnight, if you dare.'

'You're really not going to drop it till I accept?' Harry asked annoyed. Draco just did not want to take no for an answer.

'No I'm not. You accused me of cowardice but don't want to accept a duel.'

'_I'm not afraid of losing; I'm afraid I might forget myself and kill you._' Harry did not say that aloud, he projected it straight into Draco's mind with Legilimency. _'I really don't like killing people but for you I'm willing to make an exception. It really doesn't matter to me if I kill you now or later, it would just be such a bother having to escape from Azkaban. I'm planning to stay in school for a bit longer and that would interfere with my plans.'_

Draco paled at this unexpected intrusion.

'Of course, just wondering if you'd chicken out?' Harry said aloud, watching Draco's reaction. 'If you want a true Wizard's duel, how about one in front of the whole school? I can make arrangements with Dumbledore. We can duel tomorrow after dinner, here in the Hall, in front of everyone,' Harry said as Draco's face paled even more.

'Go ahead,' he whispered thinking that Harry was bluffing.

'As you wish,' Harry turned around, and headed over to the headmaster.

'Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, are students allowed proper wizard duels at Hogwarts? Ones that are watched over by the staff, and school?' Harry asked as Dumbledore looked back at him curiously.

'Of course, there are a few rules to the school duels though; naturally the three unforgivable curses aren't allowed. Standard ministry regulations apply. I doubt that would be a problem with you first years,' Dumbledore explained and Harry nodded smiling at the comment about the unforgivables. He turned back to Malfoy, who was still standing there staring back at him in shock. Harry turned back to Dumbledore.

'Sir, Draco Malfoy has just challenged me to a dual. Though I don't like fighting I've accepted. The problem is that he suggested a duel for tonight around midnight, but that would be after hours. I would hate to lose my house points for unsanctioned fighting and being out of bounds. I was just wondering if you would allow us to dual tomorrow after dinner, here in the hall?' Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled but was a little concerned, it seemed every time he thought he had young Harry figured out, something would pop up and he had to work on a new theory._ Harry always acted strangely adult. _Any "normal" first year would just have snuck out at night without a second thought about the rules and house points. Yet here was Harry asking permission for a formal dual. He was curious of what would happen in this dual and decided to allow it. It was not standard to let first years fight; they usually did not know enough to even merit a try. He knew Draco had extensive home schooling and Harry had…he did not really know, but it would be interesting.

'Of course, I would like to see what you'll do,' he said as he stood up to speak to all the students.

'Everyone, I have just received some news. Those who have nothing to do tomorrow evening after dinnertime, feel free to stay down here in the hall. We are having an official Wizarding duel between Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, although a few rules do apply. The dual ends when the first wizard is disarmed, not when the first wizard dies.'

'You understand that right?' Dumbledore asked softly, a bit worried.

Harry nodded, 'Unfortunately, yes.'

'Very well, we will be looking forward to the duel,' Professor Dumbledore said as everyone in the Great Hall began to whisper and talking excitedly.

'Harry, I thought you said you didn't like fighting, why then your answer?' Dumbledore asked in a whisper only Harry could hear over the noise of the hall.

'That little ferret almost killed one of my friends, but he doesn't seem sorry at all. It also seems as if he is going to get away with it because there weren't any witnesses except for me. He and his little minions claim it was a freak accident. However, I ask you to consider, if he is capable of attempted murder at eleven, what will he be willing to do in the future? Also remember who the boy's father is,' with that Harry walked back towards Draco, who looked like he was about to faint from shock.

'See you on the battlefield. No seconds. Good luck.' Harry whispered as the Slytherin took a few steps back slowly, before glaring at him.

'Yes, good luck indeed, Potter. You'll need it,' he said as he smirked at Harry, before walking away. This last attempt at bravado looked laughable considering his pale face.

'Harry! Why'd you do that? We don't know enough magic yet!' Ron said as Harry sat back down at the table.

'I know a few spells that can knock him off his feet for a while,' Harry said as he took a bite of his now cold pie. 'Anyway you know that I know a lot more than I'm letting on.'

'Harry, what you did... that was pretty smart.' Harry looked up to see Hermione standing there. It surprised him; he thought she would be the least happy of his friends.

'Thanks,' Harry said 'It's a lot better then wandering around the school at night, and I won't lose Gryffindor any points if I'm caught. Not to mention if Malfoy backs out, he'll look like a bloody idiot. You know I'm doing this for you, don't you?' Harry smiled as Hermione sat down beside him.

'Thanks, Har, but you know you really don't have to do it,' Hermione said as she helped herself to a piece of pie.

'No, I really do, I can't let him hurt the people I love and get away with it,' Harry answered sombrely.

Hermione started to blush.

'That goes for Neville and Ron as well. I really do love all of you. You're the first and best friends I've ever had and I will not let anything bad happen to you.' _Not this time…_

-------------------------------------

The next morning Harry got up early, before his friends awoke. He quickly scribbled a note to Ron telling him not to come looking for him as he wanted the day alone to prepare for his duel with Draco. It was a Saturday so he would have the whole day for himself.

He then showered and snuck out to the room of requirements. The room was the same as it was for the DA meetings. He was very pleased, this meant he did not need to sneak his books up there. He had only to ask the room and a copy of the book he wanted and it would appear. He also saw a new addition. There was a practise dummy in the middle of the floor. That would be very useful.

He took a few select books from the shelf and settled himself on the pile of cushions. He needed a couple of low level jinxes. He did not want to use the high-level curses he knew. His objective was not to hurt Draco. No, that could wait. He wanted to scare the little brat. He wanted Draco to piss his pants. He wanted to humiliate him so bad that he would not dare show his ugly face for a week.

Harry found some interesting stuff. One passage was specifically insightful. He read that the Cruciatus curse worked on the same principle as a simple tickling charm. If he could vary his intent while doing the tickling charm, the result would be the same as that evil curse. It would not be nearly as painful, but it would be painful enough to leave Draco screaming for mercy. All the students would think Draco could not even handle a light tickling charm.

Harry knew that was nasty, but he really did not care. Years in battle had hardened him.

Another useful spell he found he could modify was the confundus charm. Harry could change it so it would almost work as the imperious curse. He did not think he would use that one, but it was still useful to know.

Years ago he would have had a problem with using Unforgivable curses or modified spells to achieve the same purpose. Yet that day in the ministry when Sirius had died he had crossed over a line he could never get back over again. The moment he cast that pain curse on Belliatrix he had lost his innocence. From there everything just snowballed and he was forced to use nasty and sometimes illegal means to survive. Not that there were any laws at that time, there wasn't even a ministry.

Just as he was getting stuck in his negative thoughts, Hedwig arrived in the room with a letter for him. Harry did not know how she had gotten in there, but he was so glad and surprised to see her that he did not even think about that.

She had brought him a letter from Ginny. That was enough to cheer him for the rest of the day.

She said she was ever so surprised to receive letters from him. She really didn't expect him to write to her. Boys usually forgot stuff like that and he did not even know her that well. She was still surprised that he was the Harry Potter. Everything happened so fast on that day that they never introduced themselves properly. She did not have a lot to write about as the Burrow was a boring place without the boys to liven it up. But she expressed her hope that he would write to her again and promised him that her next letter would be longer.

Harry hoped that she was slowly becoming his friend. He did not want to repeat that embarrassing butter dish incident in this life.

To regain his focus after reading the letter he worked trough some of his katas. He needed to centre himself again. He concentrated on his breathing and fluent motions. He let his magic flow through his body using his bodymagic. Once he was focused, again he started to practice his magic. When he was tired, he would take breaks and play his guitar a bit before he continued practicing his fighting skills.

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The evening came quite quickly, and Harry was surprised to see that nearly everyone in the school had stayed behind in the hall. The staff table was promptly banished to create a duelling platform. It was the same size as a standard competition platform. Professor Flitwick would be the judge because he was an excellent duellist himself and knew all the rules that applied to a "friendly" match.

Dumbledore's loud voice could be heard over the excited students in the hall.

'Students, settle down, settle down,' he said. Once everyone was silent he motioned to the two opponents. 'Harry, Draco, please take your positions on the platform. The duel will begin in three minutes. As you all know, this duel will have no seconds. The teachers and I have decided that whoever wins this duel will earn their house fifty house points.'

At that the Hall was a buzz once again. Gryffindor and Slytherin could not believe their luck. Fifty points would help either house a lot in the competition for the house cup. The question was who would it be …? Once it was silent again Dumbledore continued.

'This is truly a great opportunity to prove your worth to your houses and I hope you do us proud. We as teachers will also be able to see how well the first years have advanced in the last few weeks.'

Harry hurried to the front, and heard a cry of loud cheering come from the Gryffindor table as he walked down the row; the Slytherins of course were booing him. Harry watched as Draco walked onto the platform, the Slytherins cheered, but it was covered by the booing from the remaining three houses.

'Scared Potter? Please don't faint when it gets nasty.' Draco sneered.

'You little ferret.'

Harry took in the professional duelling stance, his body slightly turned to present a smaller target. Moody drilled it into him in his other live; it had saved his live on countless occasions. Moody had taught Harry a lot in the short time they were together before the old Auror's death. He had learned not to try to block an unknown spell with a shield if it was possible to dodge. Also he learned to never stay still in one place for too long – if you fell to roll out of the way and to use that momentum to get up again. Harry remembered he had spent a whole day practising how to fall, roll and get up.

Harry bowed at Draco; Draco did not do the same. He clearly had no idea what proper duelling etiquette was or he was too arrogant to bow to Harry. This did not bother Harry in the slightest. He then bowed at Professor Flitwick who was the judge. He now stood calmly waiting for the spark that would signal the beginning of the dual.

The moment Harry saw the red sparks he waved his hand over the crowd of spectators wandlessly erecting a ward to shield them from stray spells and also preventing the interference of other students and teachers.

Dumbledore was the only person to even notice that. He could see and feel the magic that surrounded the two combatants and their judge. This was a very advanced and powerful ward and he was sure he would be the only one able to break through it_. Why did Harry cast it, it must be draining some of his magical energy? Wouldn't he rather be at his full power when duelling? An even bigger question was, how did he know how to even do it and where did he get the power to sustain it? This was another display of advanced magic and again it was achieved wandlesly and seemingly without any effort._

Draco started off by using a disarming spell, which Harry deflected with protego, a simple shielding charm.

_Anybody that knew anything about duelling knew you never began with a disarming charm. It was pathetic really._

'Furnunculus,' he said in barely a whisper as Draco ducked the spell by rolling out of the way. Cheering could be heard from the Slytherins, but Harry was just warming up. He was gauging Draco's speed and agility, sizing up his opponent. This was a joke, compared to some of the opponents he had faced in his other life.

'Come on Potter, is that the best you can do?' Draco asked as he struggled to get to his feet.

'No, that was only a starter's meal,' Harry said as he smirked at the first year.

'_Tarantallegra!_' Draco shouted. Harry did not even bother to move, Draco's curses were so weak it would not even register on his shield charm. It did not even have enough power to bounce back; it just sort of fizzed out.

This was a disappointment. Harry never expected a real duel but he did think Draco had at least a bit more power than this. '_Why was it so difficult to kill him in the other time line? He was such a weak pathetic little thing. I could be nice and end this lame excuse for a duel immediately but I won't, time to play a little bit.'_

Draco tried multiple curses against Harry but he just stood there looking bored.

'Come on Potter, don't just stand there. Fight me!' Draco screamed in frustration.

'Is that really the best you have?' Harry asked. 'Okay, my turn.'

Harry quickly fired of a few curses in quick suggestion just like the Hit Wizards had taught him. He intentionally missed Draco and soon the little Slytherin was surrounded by a circle of fire.

'I thought we should heat things up a bit, hot enough for you?' Harry taunted.

Draco did not know what to do; he had never before landed himself in such a pickle. _Harry was Muggle raised; he was not supposed to know any of this stuff. How did a person that was such a klutz in class manage to do all this?_

'Too hot I guess,' Harry laughed and with a wave of his wand all the flames disappeared.

Draco was furious. He started to shoot a lot of nasty and dangerous curses at Harry

'_Furnunculus! Densaugeo! Diffindo! Reducto!'_

Harry easily blocked them. This was better; this was what he expected from the start. _'I knew the little ferret was holding back.'_

'I see you finally decided to fight instead of playing with stupid jinxes,' Harry taunted.

'Shut up Potter!' he spat back.

'There's no reason to be rude,' Harry said. He then did the tickling charm he had planned to use. He made sure to say the spell loud and clear that every one knew exactly what he used. This way Draco would be humiliated and he could not get into trouble later on.

Draco fell to the ground screaming.

'_This is only a tenth of the pain you feel under the Cruciatus curse,'_ Harry projected into Draco's mind_. 'Voldemort loves using it on his followers to keep them in line. It is also part of the initiation ceremony. Do you really want to experience this pain everyday? Stay away from the dark side. Trust me dark magic is not fun to do; it contaminates your very soul. This is your last chance to change your life, the next time we duel I will not hold back.'_

'Surrender, Malfoy?' Harry asked as he lifted the charm, Draco got to his feet.

'Never,' he whispered as he held his wand out to attack.

'_Protificus…_'

'_Expelliarmus_!' Harry shouted pushing all his power into the spell, Draco flew through the air at a high speed hitting the wall with force. His wand landing in Harry's outstretched hand. Draco was knocked unconscious.

Harry just shook his head; this was not what he had planned to do. He really felt sick with himself._ Draco was weak and I had taunted him just like a no good Death Eater. I am just as bad as they are. How can I be a fighter for the light, if my heart and soul are just as dark as the people I want to fight_? If he continued with his quest, he did not know if he would get through it with his sanity intact. Why was Fate so cruel? He did not want to be evil – at this stage he did not even wanted to be magical. He would have been so much happier being an ignorant muggle.

'And the winner is Harry Potter! Gryffindor has just earned themselves fifty house points. Congratulations Mr. Potter!' Flitwick announced. The whole school burst out cheering except for the Slytherins.

Harry did not hear any of that. Tears were streaking his cheeks as he turned and ran before anyone could stop and congratulate him. He ran out of the front doors over the lawn and straight into the forest. When he was sure no one could see him, he transformed into his griffin form and ran deeper into the forest. He did not want to think and being a beast he had much more primitive thoughts, but he felt as if his Animagus form was a mockery. _He did not feel pure as the griffin was supposed to be. He felt so dirty and tired. He wanted to rage, to scream, to destroy something. This was too hard for him; he could not go on anymore. He hated Voldemort, he hated Draco, he hated Fate, but most of all he hated himself. He could not stand being himself anymore. _

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Every one in the hall was shocked about Harry's quick and much unexpected departure. No one even noticed where he went. It was total pandemonium in the hall. Dumbledore dismissed the students and told them to go to their respective common rooms. He then left Draco in the care of his Head of House. Snape would need to take young Draco up to the infirmary. _'I need to find Harry and Fast!'_ Dumbledore thought. He was able to see his face as Harry ran by. He saw so much hate and sorrow in those eyes. He really did not understand what was going on. He really did not like it when he was not in complete control.

Dumbledore got to his office and immediately search his silver instruments. He was not able to detect Harry anywhere. _'How was that possible?'_

Harry was a puzzle to him, a really disturbing puzzle. After that day when he had first met Harry, he was afraid that Voldemort might be possessing the young boy. Then the sorting came and he was very relieved that Harry ended up in Gryffindor. There was no way that Voldemort would be sorted into that house.

His relief did not last long however. First there were the nightmares and weird sleeping habits, then the constant headache. Harry never wanted to go and get help; his friends always had to drag him there. Then there was the potions incident. After that, he and Minerva kept a close eye on Harry. It was shocking when she reported to him what Harry was capable of. Was it possible for an eleven year old to become an animagus without any magical tutoring or guidance?

The fact that the boy was a Parselmouth was another thing to worry about. Strange though, Harry's friends did not seem to care about that.

The day of Hermione's flying accident was the day that scared him the most. Harry had displayed so much skill and knowledge but … _What was the matter with this young talented boy?_ He was so strong and yet so fragile at the same time. He was so calm and mature all the time and then he would totally lose control over his emotions. Harry was a very conflicted person.

Tonight's duel was another piece of the puzzle that was Harry Potter. How did he know correct duelling procedure? Harry had a perfect duelling stance; this was supposed to be the boy's first duel ever. _No matter how much you read, you could not get that out of a book!_ And that ward he had erected. _Why?_ And the spells he used. _All simple low level jinxes but the way he used it… _

Another thing, why on earth did Harry react like he did after the dual? If he had lost, it would have been expected. However, he had won. He had won without any effort on his part. He had looked almost bored. Why would he be so sad that he had won?

'_I know he doesn't like fighting but this has to be about something else…'_

'_Why can't I find him? Where is he? What is he doing now? WHAT WAS GOING ON???' _

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Oops he lost it again. Don't worry. Harry will get a bit of help and comfort in the next chapter. He won't stop being slightly loopy but he will cope a lot better.

Can't wait to finish the next chapter, it's where the real fun begins.

Thanks again for all the _nice_ reviews and questions.

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**Remember to read and review**.

Bad news. I will have a very nasty week (three tests, two assignments and performing in a show of my drama group) so I won't even have time to sleep let alone write anything, so unfortunately the next chapter will be late. Sorry. Life what can I say, _it_ happens.

_Amberile B-)_


	11. Crystals and confrontations

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Huge thanks to **pbdp **for help on this chapter.

Also thanks to my betas **Weasel Debater**, **sarini and azzizzle **(loud cheering and applause)

**Chapter 10 Crystals and confrontations**

Harry kept on running the entire night. Not caring that people would be looking for him, worried about him. He did not even spare a thought at the amount of trouble he would be in when he returned. If he returned, that is.

He wanted to get away. He did not want to face Voldemort and his Death Eaters again. He did not want to put his friends in danger. He could not bear being himself anymore. He felt physically sick just thinking of himself. He wanted out!

Harry could not think of the future and his responsibilities, it was too much to bear. All those innocent people dying. All those people that he killed in the fight for survival, people that he would have to kill again…

Harry just ran and ran until he could run no more. He finally collapsed very deep into the forest. He laid there, wishing for death as the sun rose.

He had no idea where he was. He knew the forest pretty well, but he was sure he had never been in this part of the forest. He was so deep in and he doubted if even Hagrid had been at this place before.

As it became lighter, he started to hear singing. Soft angelic voices were chanting the most beautiful song he had ever heard. The only thing he could compare it to was Fawkes' phoenix song but it was even so different from that. The whole space was filled with the music, magic, and a strange glowing white light. Harry was mesmerised. _'What was happening?_' Strange enough he was not afraid, he felt an overwhelming sense of peace and calm.

'Creature of light, why have you come here?' a soft yet beautiful voice asked. Harry wanted to answer but realized he could not in his animagus form. Throwing all caution to the wind, he transformed back to his human form.

'I don't know, where am I? I know this forest almost as well as the back of my hand; yet I have never before found this place.' Harry answered but remained looking at the ground; he did not want to see who the speaker was. He felt too contaminated to lay eyes on someone so pure that light was shining out of her very soul. There were a lot of excited whispers the moment he transformed. Harry did not even notice it, he just wanted to hide somewhere in the dark. He could not find a place though. He stood there totally exposed, surrounded by beings of light.

'Poor child, don't be afraid. Only a person with a pure heart and soul could ever find this place.'

Harry did not know how to respond to that. He was the last person on earth he would describe as pure. He did not know if he should laugh or cry at that moment. He was so tired; emotionally and physically spent. He could not comprehend what was going on. _'Maybe I'm dreaming… but my dreams are never this good... Then I must be delusional. Well insanity is as good an escape as any.'_ he thought with a smile before he passed out, totally overwhelmed.

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Dumbledore was one worried wizard. He, the staff, and all the prefects had spent the entire night searching for Harry but they could find him nowhere. It was morning now and everyone was tired. _'Where on earth could he be?'_ Dumbledore thought for the thousandth time. His silver instruments still did not show him anything.

'Albus, why can't we find him?' McGonagall asked.

They were in Dumbledore's office. He had just called a momentary halt to the search effort so that the tired staff could get some food and sleep. Minerva was the only one that did not want to relent on her efforts. On the other hand, Severus was almost unbearable. He did not think it necessary to look for "That arrogant Potter brat".

'I really don't know, not even my most advanced instruments can find him, this is the first time ever that I am unable to find someone.'

'Maybe he doesn't want to be found, he might just want to be alone. He'll come back, won't he? We're just overreacting.' she said hopefully.

'I hope you're right. There isn't anything we can do at this stage.'

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'Where can he be guys?' Hermione asked Neville and Ron while pacing up and down the common room.

'We don't know, he didn't return yesterday, his bed was not slept in when we woke up.' Neville answered.

'I might know of a way to find him.' Ron said thoughtfully. 'My brothers have the weird ability to always know were everyone is in this castle, maybe they'll know.'

'Sorry bro, we already checked, he is definitely not in the castle.' Fred answered as he came down the stairs.

'You don't think he went into the forest, do you?' Hermione asked worried.

'Don't know, hard to tell.' George answered.

'But we must find him!' Neville exclaimed.

'Don't know how you're going to do that. He isn't in the castle and with all the teachers out there looking for him you won't be able to slip out.'

'We simply must find a way!' Hermione said.

'Don't get any silly ideas of going into the forest, it's dangerous!' Fred warned.

Ron retorted, 'You've been in the forest hundreds of times.'

'Yes, but only on the outskirts and on the paths, that's how we know how dangerous it is in there.' said George.

'Yeah, there are centaurs and werewolves. I've heard there is even a colony of acromantulas.' Fred added. Ron visibly paled at the mention of the giant spiders.

'So don't be stupid. Be good little firsties and let the teachers do their job. We'll keep a lookout for when he enters the castle again.'

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Harry woke up in a very comfortable bed with soft linen sheets. He could hear bird song all around him. A soft breeze was flowing through the room bringing in the fresh smell of the forest. Somewhere he could hear water flowing gently over rocks. It was the most peaceful Harry had ever felt. He slowly opened his eyes and the world was unfocused. He felt around for his glasses.

'Morning, young one.' Someone said, giving him his glasses. Harry was very confused; he did not know where he was or how he got there.

'Thank you.' he answered. 'Where am I?' he asked unsure.

'You are at the home of the Elves, child of light,' the person answered in a kind voice.

'That can't be,' Harry answered confused. 'There aren't elves anymore. No one has seen one in five hundred years. There are only house elves.'

'We don't like to show ourselves to your kind, light one. Only the most powerful, pure and wise know how to find us.'

'Then how did I end up here? I none of those things, I am quite the contrary.' Harry answered perplexed.

'Dear child of light, I sense a lot of pain and sorrow in you. How is that possible in someone as young as you?'

Harry almost laughed. He had been through so much in his weird life. It would be impossible to explain. 'Why do you call me that?' Harry asked, he remembered that they also called him that when he first got there. 'I'm anything but light anymore.'

'Why do you say that, young one?'

'Fate chose the wrong champion; I'm tired of her toying with me. I cannot do it anymore! I won't do it again!' Harry did not care about his secret anymore; he knew it would be safe to talk about it here. He did not know how he knew it, but he did.

'Child you still have so much to do. You cannot give up now.'

'I can't do it; it's too much for one person to achieve.' Harry cried, 'I can't, I can't.'

'You do not have to do it alone, dear child. You have friends to share your burden with.' the elf answer.

'I can't, they will all die again. I won't be responsible for it again. I'd rather be totally alone for the rest of my life than be responsible for anymore of my friends' deaths.'

'There is much power in friendship, power enough to achieve your goal. Do not shy away from that power, use it.'

'What do you mean? How can I use my friendship to defeat Voldemort?'

The elf laughed musically. 'Pure one, you will find the way.'

'I'm not even what you think I am, I haven't been innocent for a very long time' Harry asked.

'Dear child, you have one of the biggest and purest hearts I have ever seen. Your aura is even a brighter white than mine and I'm the Queen of the elves, though you should be wary for the darkness that surrounds you and the world.'

Harry was completely stunned by that answer_. 'How was it possible? Everyone knew elves were the purest beings to ever walk the earth, they even outranked unicorns. This could not possibly be true, only the part about the darkness made any sense, Master Li also warned me about it but he never said anything about the colour of my aura.'_

'Wh-wh-what?' that was all that Harry could manage.

The elf laughed at the reaction of this young human in front of her, if only he could see himself as he truly was. 'You are a brave, courageous, friendly and kind person. You treat everyone as an equal no matter if he is a lowly slave like a house elf or a king. You are one of the only people that I know that has the interest of the other magical brethren on his heart. You care for every single being that has ever crossed your path.'

Harry looked at her confused. He did not believe the things she said about him, how could it be true. He felt only loathing for himself for the longest of time.

The elf smiled softly at him and took his hand. She looked directly into his eye, gazing into his very soul then she started to sing.

_ Six firm friends stand at your side_

_ Seven strong fight for the light_

_ When all around you darkness closes_

_ Think of the power friendship poses._

_ In magic means this must manifest_

_ To rid the world of the darkening pest_

_ A talisman is yours to find_

_ In essence, one, in truth divided_

_ This talisman, to unite your side_

_ Will reveal the love you hide_

_ Unite in friendship, love and trust_

_ Search for this relic, you must_

_ Do not be blinded by your past_

_ In pain and bitterness, none lasts_

_ Rejoice and sing this second time_

_ And fight for truth with love benign_

_ Don't worry child, about your fate_

_ and sleep now child, your friends await._

Harry was vaguely aware that there was magic interwoven in the song and that his whole destiny was captured in that one moment in time, but he did not care because a peaceful feeling unlike any he had ever felt was spreading through him. With that, he fell asleep to the most restful sleep he had had since he arrived in his new life.

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'Come on you two, we're going to get caught if you don't hurry up.' Hermione whispered urgently. It was late at night and the three Gryffindor friends had decided to sneak into the forest and look for their missing friend, Harry. They had spent the last hour trying to get out of the castle. This was a very difficult task; there were teachers and prefects everywhere. The ghosts also did not help, as the Bloody Baron almost saw them a while ago.

'We are moving as fast as we can, you know Neville makes a lot of noise if we go too fast.' Ron hissed back. He was a nervous wreck and very tired. He was only able to keep going by thinking how Harry needed him.

Finally, they slipped out of the castle. Now they only had to sneak past Hagrid's hut and they would be home free. Even though it was very dark and they tripped a few times, they did not dare risk lighting a wand.

Just as they reached the forest edge, a frightening beast landed right in front of them. It was as large as a lion and had wings like a Hippogriff. Hermione shrieked with terror and Neville froze. 'You guys, I think we should run.' Ron managed to stutter.

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It was dark again when Harry awoke. The elves were gone and he was on the forest floor. For a moment, he thought that he had dreamed it all, but then he remembered the strange song of the queen and felt a strange and foreign crystal object in his hands. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the object was the centrepiece of a larger talisman. There were places for six other crystals to connect around it. The talisman also had a golden chain so he could wear it around his neck. He put it on and felt a strange, comforting pulsing emanating from it. He quickly cast an invisibility spell on it to hide it. As he wore it, he knew his new destiny was connected to it and he did not want anything to happen to the crystal. Then, he transformed back into his griffin form. It was very dangerous in the forest at night; he knew he was less likely to be attacked while in his animagus form.

Harry did not want to walk all the way back. He actually did not know the way back. He decided that he would fly back. Once he left the cover of the trees, he could easily spot the castle in the distance. This was actually the first time he would be flying like this in his new life. His cupboard was too small to spread his wings and he had not really thought about it since he got back to Hogwarts. Harry really loved flying, it did not matter whether it was on a broom or as a griffin. A broom could go a lot faster but you did not have the same feeling of power. He could never decide which he enjoyed the most.

It was time to face the music. Harry did not really know what he would say on his return. He really did not care. He had rediscovered the will to live and he was ready to take on the challenges that were waiting for him. The elves gave him new hope of beating Voldemort. This time he would not have to go through everything alone. He would trust in his friends to carry him through.

Speaking of friends_. 'What on earth are those three doing at the edge of the forest? I better go stop them before they do something stupid.' _With that, he landed right in front of his friends.

'You guys, I think we should run.' Ron managed to stutter.

'Be quiet you guys, you'll wake the whole castle. What the hell are you doing here anyway?' Harry said once he had transformed back into his human form.

'Bloody Hell, is that you Harry?!' Ron asked in shocked.

'Who do you think it is? The tooth fairy?' Harry laughed.

'We didn't know your animagus form was a griffin, I did a bit of reading and they said it is impossible to transform into a magical creature.' Hermione said going into academic mode to counteract her shock.

Neville did not hear a word Hermione said. He just wanted to know, 'Where have you been all this time, everyone was beside themselves with worry.'

I'm so sorry you guys, I didn't mean to worry you. I just needed to get away. Things were getting too much for me.' Harry admitted. 'I'm alright now though; I promise.'

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Back in the castle, Harry led them along hidden passageways that most people did not know about. 'I heard something!' Harry whispered. It was a sort of snuffling.

'Mrs. Norris?' breathed Ron, squinting through the dark. A noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak.

'Sniff around, my sweet, there might be someone lurking in a corner.'

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently towards the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the room. Fate was determined to let things happen the way she planned.

'They're in here somewhere,' they heard him mutter, 'probably hiding.'

'Come, this way.' Harry indicated to the others and they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run—he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

'_Not again!'_ Harry thought with annoyance '_Fine, if she wants them to meet Fluffy, I'll lead them to Fluffy.'_

'RUN!' Harry cried and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following—they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, knowing exactly where he was leading them. They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from where Filch first spotted them.

'I think we've lost him.' Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. He was still tired from flying all the way back and he did not plan on this adventure now. Neville was bent over, wheezing and spluttering, the morning run had not yet shown its effect.

'We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower,' said Ron, 'as quickly as possible.'

'Let's go.' Harry muttered as he began walking. However, the trip back to Gryffindor was not going to be that simple. They had not gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

'Peeves I'll give you a box of dungbombs if you distract Filch.' Harry said thinking fast. Peeves cackled.

'Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, I'm shocked that you think I'm bribe-able.'

'Well you are, come on admit it.'

'Should tell Filch, I should.' said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. 'How much bombs are there in a box.'

'I don't know, maybe twenty.' Harry answered; he knew he had the poltergeist hooked.

'Deal! Run along, I'll keep him busy.'

They were only a few corridors away when they heard Peeve's yelling.

'STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!'

They ran to the only door that was in that corridor.

'The door's locked! We're done for! This is the end!' Ron moaned as they pushed helplessly at the door. They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves' shouts.

'Oh, move over,' Hermione snarled. She grabbed her wand, tapped the lock and whispered, '_Alohomora_!' at the exact same time Harry did. Every thing was happening exactly the same way as last time. The only different was that this was a different day.

The lock clicked and the door swung open—they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening, not bothering to look at the contents.

'Where did they go, Peeves?' Filch was saying.' Quick, tell me.'

'Say "please".'

'Don't mess me about, Peeves, now where did they go?'

'Shan't say nothing if you don't say please,' said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.

'All right—please.'

'NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha!' Haaaaa!' And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

'He thinks this door is locked,' Harry whispered. 'I think we'll be OK—get off, Neville!' For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's t-shirt for the last minute.

'What?'

Harry turned around, and suddenly remembered his situation. In front of him Fluffy, the three headed dog, sat staring at them with saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

He reached for the doorknob and opened it, causing the four students to fall backwards. Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran back down the corridor. They did not stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

'Where on earth have you all been?' she asked, looking at their flushed, sweaty faces.

'Never mind that—pig snout, pig snout!' panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward.

They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked like he'd never speak again.

'What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?' said Ron finally. 'If any dog needs exercise, that one does.'

Hermione had gotten both her breath and her bad temper back again. 'You don't have eyes, any of you, do you?' she snapped. 'Didn't you see what it was standing on?'

'Hermione, you clever witch! Yes, Fluffy was standing on a trapdoor and yes he is guarding something.'

'Fluffy?' Ron asked.

'Harry, how did you know what I was about to say?' Hermione asked almost at the same time as Ron.

'You knew what that was all about, didn't you? Neville added.

'If you want to find out what is going on you'll have to do some research. It will be too easy if I tell you every thing and you won't learn anything that way.' Harry answered with a sly smile.

'You have some explaining to do, Harry, you must tell us what happened after the duel to make you take off like that and then you must tell us about this whole Fluffy business.' Hermione insisted.

'Okay, make you a deal, the day you all master Occlumency, I'll tell you some of my secrets. I'll help you find out more about Fluffy and what he is guarding but I won't tell you what it is. I'll also continue with your training but you must put more effort into it. It is really important that you master the skills I want to teach you.'

'But, Harry, why?' Hermione asked.

'I've said enough I think it is time for bed.' Harry said with a sly smile. Then he gave Hermione a hug. 'Good night.'

Hermione did not know what this meant. '_Did this mean he likes me or was that only a friendly goodnight hug?' _All thoughts of Harry's secrets were replaced by the mystery that was Harry Potter. She really liked Harry, but she also liked Ron yet also in a confusingly different way. Neville was also a nice guy. She also did not know if she even should be thinking about stuff like that. She was only eleven and there were still many years to think about that. Maybe they were just really good friends. '_Okay Hermione_,' she argued with herself, '_time to get some female friends, your hanging around guys too much_.' Unfortunately her logical brain could not let her get away with that argument. Harry had been her only friend for a long time; she never really had female friends so that could not suddenly be the problem. '_Oh, I give up maybe I'm just tired, I'm being silly. It was only a hug.' _

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Harry lay in bed thinking of what he would do when the sun rose. It would be time to face the music. He did not know what he would say. He could not just go ahead and tell them that he went to visit the forest elves. They would think he was lying. Everyone knew there weren't any elves anymore. Anyway, he was not supposed to _be_ in the forest in the first place. No one knew that he was an animagus, except for his friends, so they would not know that he could protect himself in the dangerous forest. After all, he was only eleven in this life and eleven year olds don't just take off like he did. It was so hard sometimes to remember that he was a child and not an adult anymore.

Luckily, he had spent almost the entire previous day sleeping or he would have been dead tired when morning dawned. He got up and woke Ron and Neville so they could start their morning run.

They met Hermione down in the common room. She also looked like she did not get a lot of sleep. 'Morning you guys. Ready for the day?' She asked with a smile trying to be more cheerful than she felt.

'Not really, I still don't know what I'll tell the professors. I'm definitely not going to tell them where I really was. They already think I'm off my rocker, if I tell them the truth I'll get room accommodation in St. Mungo's.' Harry answered.

'Yeah about that, what happened in the forest?' Ron asked.

'It's kind of difficult to explain.' Harry began. 'I'm not even sure whether I understand it myself…'

'What do you mean by that?' Neville tried to get more information out of his friend, the comment about St. Mungo's had upset him a bit but as his friends did not know about his parents, he could not get angry with Harry.

'Come on, if we don't start running now we might as well get back into bed.' Harry said walking over to the portrait exit.

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Dumbledore was standing at his office window worrying about one of his charges that had gone missing. He would have to report this to the board of governors. _'What could have happened to Harry?'_ The future depended on that boy. He had vowed all those years ago that he would keep Harry safe so he could for fill his destiny. However, he failed. He could not even keep him safe in the Hogwarts castle, even before Voldemort returned.

As he stared out of the window, he noticed four young people running around the Quidditch field. He knew Harry and his friends ran there every morning. That meant Harry was back. Running with his friends as if nothing was wrong, as if he were not missing for two days. He would never figure the boy out, _'Where was he all that time?_'

'Fawkes, could you please go down there and check on the children that are running there?' Dumbledore sang in the phoenix language. The first time Dumbledore spoke to Fawkes like that, he was very surprised but he later learned that, that was just one of the gifts you received if you were deemed worthy enough to bond with a familiar like Fawkes. The phoenix nodded his head and disappeared in a blaze of fire.

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Harry noticed immediately that Fawkes was watching over them, even though he was not visible to the untrained eye. After Dumbledores death the bird just disappeared, Harry thought it was to mourn his old friend and master. Then one day Fawkes just kind of appeared to Harry and adopted him. Harry could never see himself as the master of this bird. Friend and companion, yes, but master, no.

'Tell your friend Albus that I'll go to his office after my run with my friends.' Harry sang. The bird seemed very puzzled. '_How could he be bonded to this boy and to Dumbledore at the same time?'_ Fawkes nodded his head and popped back to the office to report to his master.

'Harry, what did you do just now?' Neville asked puzzled. He was running right behind Harry and he heard everything.

'Oh, I was talking to a phoenix, I told him to stop spying on us and that I would go to the headmaster after our run.' Harry answered.

'You what?' Ron panted as he caught up with his two friends.

'I talked to Dumbledore's phoenix.'

The two boys were speechless.

'Hey you guys, you're lagging behind.' Hermione called back to them, she was far in front.

'Come on we can't keep her waiting.' Harry said running faster to catch up with Hermione. The other two friends just stared to each other, dumbfounded, and then also quickened their pace.

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'Why did you return so soon, old friend?' Dumbledore asked when the bird reappeared in his office; he could still see the four friends running outside.

"_The boy with the bright eyes asked me to tell you that he would come and speak with you after his run,"_ Fawkes stated in its unique singsong voice.

That shocked Dumbledore, Harry just kept surprising him again and again. _How was it possible that he could speak to Fawkes?_

'Thank you, Fawkes.' Dumbledore said after a while. 'Tell me, can you sense any evil in the boy? I know your magical kin are more attuned to that kind of thing.'

"_He is definitely not dark, he is for the light and he is light. Though he has committed dark deeds, I could see a lot of dark curses and spells, death and sorrow. He is almost totally surrounded by the darkness" _

'But he's only eleven with only a few months of magical education. How can he be marked by the things you say?'

"_I have something to do with that… I think."_ Fawkes sang.

Dumbledore nodded so the bird continued.

"_I don't know how or why but I'm bonded to that boy. When he was four, he called to me and I went to comfort him. I left one of my feathers behind, so he could use it to focus his magic. Therefore, he has been using magic for a very long time now. That's why he is so powerful; his magical core is far more developed than his peers."_

'Why haven't you told me about it sooner?'

"_I was confused and didn't know what it all meant, I decided to wait and see what happened."_

'I understand old friend. You did what you thought was right.'

"_Albus, how can I be bonded to two people?"_

'I don't know old friend, I don't know. Since the day I first met young Harry, I'm not sure about anything anymore. This bothers me a lot, I'm supposed to know what is going on, but I don't.'

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Dumbledore was surprise to see Harry enter. _'How did he know the password to the office?'_

'Good day Harry, I'm glad to see you are back.'

Harry smiled, he saw Dumbledore's confusion. It was actually very easy to gain entry into the office; he just had to name a few different sweets before he got the right one. 'Hallo sir,' he greeted, taking the seat he was offered.

'Care to tell me where you were and why you ran off after the duel?'

'That's a little difficult to explain, sir. I don't want to lie to you but I don't know how to truthfully answer you.' Harry answered. This was difficult. He did not have the same kind of relationship with Dumbledore in this life as he had in his other life. He really missed it. Sure, he was angry and disappointed in the old man but he still missed him. After all, in the last year of his life, he did take Harry into his trust and he treated him like an equal. The sad part was that it was too little, too late.

'Harry, the truth has never hurt anyone.' Dumbledore said.

'Sir, it would do you good to remember that as well, also that lies, deception and half-truths kills.' Harry could not help thinking of Sirius. He wanted to mend things with Dumbledore but every time it seemed like the conversation took a road straight to hell.

Dumbledore did not know what Harry meant with that answer.

'I don't understand your answer, Harry. If you feel so strongly about lies, why won't you tell me what happened?'

'We've had a rocky start sir and I would dearly like to rectify it, I would like to have a better relationship with you, one of trust and honesty. Unfortunately Fate is a spiteful harpy and neither of us are prepared to share secrets that we've kept for so long.' Harry answered with sorrow.

'Harry, I've always been truthful to you, why would you think I'd lie to you.'

'Fair enough, if you can answer my next question truthfully I'll tell you everything.'

'Truth… truth is a beautiful and terrible thing; it should be treated with great caution.'

Harry laughed at that answer, trust Dumbledore to cover his ass like that.

'I know it can be,' Harry agreed. 'Why do you think I'm being so cautious? But you know that answer is full of crap and a good way to cover yourself. It won't work on me. What happened to "the truth has never hurt anyone"?'

'Okay, Harry, ask your question and we can take it from there.' Dumbledore answered, not liking the direction this was going. It was supposed to be a simple meeting of a naughty child with the Headmaster, not a battle of wills for the truth and information.

'Here goes. Why did Voldemort try to kill me when I was only a baby?' Harry asked knowing there was no way in hell that Dumbledore would tell him the answer.

'Alas, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. When you are older…'

Harry held up his hand cutting off any further explanations. 'I knew you wouldn't, but you'll understand then that I can't share my secrets. Just don't wait too long to tell me. Valuable time is being wasted and you might realize your folly too late. I'll ask you again later this year. Think about it, will you?'

'I guess it must be like this?' Dumbledore asked sadly.

'Yes, but I promise to never lie to you.'

'Okay, I'll do the same. Will you please come and talk to me more often. Maybe we could work something out.'

'I'd like that. It might not look like it but I really do like talking to you.' Harry answered with a smile, he was a little disappointed, but then again he really did not expect anything.

'I guess there is only one thing left to discuss then.' Harry said.

'What would that be?'

'What will be my punishment for leaving school grounds and entering the forbidden forest?'

'Is that where you were the whole time?' Dumbledore asked amazed _'How on earth did he survive two days in the forest alone?' _

'Yes, but I will not tell you what I did in there, it is part of the secret we are keeping from each other.' Harry answered.

'What do you think your punishment should be?' Dumbledore asked curious of what the answer would be.

'I don't know, when I went into the forest I didn't plan on coming back again. Truthfully, I don't think I did anything wrong by leaving, but I did worry a lot of people and that was wrong, I guess a week or two of detention with Filch or Snape should do it. I'm hoping for Filch because I don't want to get into any more trouble. I'll definitely get into more trouble with Snape, we kind of hate each other. Anyway, either of them would do really.'

'Why do you suggest them, and, Harry, it's _Professor_ Snape.' Dumbledore said. Harry's answer worried him, '_why would he want to go into the forest and not come back, and also what changed his mind and made him come back?' _

'They are the people I would have the most rotten time with, though muggle cleaning with the squib won't be that bad because I'm used to it. I've also told you before that I won't show any respect to that murdering bastard, Snape. I guess that's another difference of opinion between us. You really should be more careful around him. Leopards never change their spots.'

'Harry, I can't understand your animosity towards _Professor_ Snape. How did you find out he's a former Death Eater anyway?'

Harry just shook his head. 'There's no such thing as a former Death Eater. Do you think _He_ would ever let anyone quit? Anyway, we're getting sidetracked again, sir.'

'Very well,' Dumbledore gave in; he could ponder that matter later. 'I think I have another punishment in mind. The staff in the kitchen could use a bit of help. I think a week of kitchen duty would do nicely.'

'Sir, wouldn't that upset the house elves? They love working and I would only get into their way, I also have a habit of upsetting those creatures.' Harry answered.

'House elves love working but I don't think they would mind the extra hand. Why do you think you would upset them?'

'I'm usually too nice and friendly with them. They have a really hard time making friends with wizards, but I never allow them to be my servants so that's the biggest problem.'

That answer was unexpected. Most wizards were appalled by the idea of working alongside house elves. A boy like Malfoy would die at the idea of working under their supervision for a week. Harry, on the other hand, looked excited by the opportunity and was only concerned with the feelings of the elves.

'Oh I see the problem, they are too used to their servitude Harry, they don't know how to react to friendly wizards, I have the same problem myself sometimes.'

'What I can't understand is why they allowed themselves to become slaves in the first place. They are a lot more powerful than most wizards realize.' Harry said.

'Harry, how do you know so much about house elves?' Dumbledore asked, realizing that Harry was not even suppose to know that there were creatures like house elves, never mind knowing so much about them.

Harry smiled. 'My secret is a lot bigger than you think. But, I think that should wait for another chat. I have not yet had breakfast and I don't want to worry my friends again.'

-------------------------------------

Harry went to the great Hall after his meeting with the headmaster. His three friends had held a seat for him. Ron and Neville were discussing what happened the previous night. Now, in the safety of the hall, even Neville thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure and was quite keen to have another one. Seeing their enthusiasm, Harry decided to fill them in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts. They spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection—although Harry already knew.

'It's either really valuable or really dangerous.' said Ron.

'Or both.' said Neville. Harry just smiled at his friends.

'Hermione, what is your take on this?' Harry asked seeing that she wasn't joining in on the discussion.

'I don't think we should concern ourselves with that; it is protected by a huge dog for a reason. Students aren't allowed in that corridor. I don't want to break any rules and lose points.'

'You were breaking rules yesterday.' Harry said, teasing Hermione a bit.

'Well that was different, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, I know, and thank you for that.' Harry smiled. 'But it couldn't hurt doing a bit of research; Hogwarts has a whole library of books that are waiting for us to read them.'

'Oh Harry, stop it, you know all my weaknesses. Okay I'll help, but only with the research and you _must_ promise me you won't go near that dog again.'

Harry was glad she was willing to help but he did not like her condition at all, he did not want to lie to her. 'Okay, Hermione, we wont go near the dog unless you come willingly with us.'

'Is that a loophole?' Hermione asked. Harry smiled at his clever friend but did not have a chance to respond.

Owls started flooding into the Great Hall as usual; everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry just smiled, knowing that it was his Nimbus 2000. When the parcel dropped on him, everyone looked at him in surprise. A letter was also there, although Harry knew what it was; he ripped it open and read it anyways.

Harry barely looked through it before crumbling it into a ball, and stuffing it into his robes.

'Come on.' Harry said to his friends as he got up to leave the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson. _'I missed this old broom; the day the whomping willow destroyed it was a sad day indeed.'_ Halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy attempted to seize the package from Harry with a lot of difficulty, but in the end failed.

Harry groaned inwardly. He did not want to go through this scene again. The more things change the more they stayed the same. _'I will never figure Fate out; this was supposed to happen days ago.'_

'That's a broomstick,' he said as he gave Harry a look of jealousy and spite. 'You'll be for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them.'

'It's not any old broomstick,' Ron said, 'it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?' Ron grinned at Harry. 'Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus.'

'What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle,' Malfoy snapped back. 'I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig.'

Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.

'Not arguing, I hope, boys?' he squeaked.

'Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor!' said Malfoy quickly.

'Yes, yes, that's right,' said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. 'Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?'

'A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir.' said Harry as he smiled at Malfoy.

Harry and his friends headed upstairs smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.

For the rest of the day, Harry had trouble keeping his mind on his lessons. He remembered he had the same problem the first time around. This time though it was not because he was anticipating flying on his new broom. No, he was thinking about the Elves and the crystal object. He was also thinking of the confrontation he had with the headmaster. He was yet to learn the time and date of his detention with the house elves. He was really excited about it. _'Maybe I could work on elven relations. Magical creature alliance will be very important in the future; might as well start now before all the bad stuff starts to happen. I can see it now S.P.E.W. and the ferocious house elf army.'_ Harry could not suppress his giggling as that amusing thought maybe Dobby could be the general and they could have socks as their emblem on their uniforms

Harry pretended his preoccupation was due to the broom. When the last period of the day was over, he and the other two boys bolted up the stairs without even making a trip to the Great Hall to get their dinner. Hermione said she would rather stay away from brooms if she could help it. Harry understood that but knew she would have to overcome her fear of flying soon. Someday they might be in a tough spot and they would need to fly out.

'Wow,' Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled on to Harry's bedspread. The light through the window shone on the sleek mahogany handle. The golden words _Nimbus Two Thousand_ glittering.

'_I missed flying with this broom; it's not my Firebolt but it's still a great broom.'_ Harry thought again to himself as he picked it up.

'Let's go try it out now!' Ron said as Harry and Neville nodded excitedly.

They ran out of the castle to the pitch. They would have an hour of flying time before Wood would arrive for Harry's "first" training session.

When they arrived there, all Harry could do was smile. Some of his best memories and victories took place on this very field; it was almost like coming home again. He had not played any Quidditch since his sixth year in Hogwarts, before he left on his dark quest. Harry was quite eager to fly again. Before Ron could say anything, Harry had already kicked off the ground, and was zooming around the field. He yelled for joy as he made several loop-de-loops. He flew as fast and as high as his broom could go and then dove down at that same speed pulling out of it at the last second.

'Blimey, he can fly…' Ron gasped with an open mouth. Neville just nodded, he had almost had a heart attack seeing what Harry did on a broom.

A few seconds later Harry, grinning like a mad man, stopped in front of his friends. 'Any of you want a go?' he asked.

Ron nodded eagerly but knew he would not be doing any of the tricks Harry just pulled off so effortlessly. He would settle for going really fast. He would break his neck if he tried anything else. _'What became of "you're the expert mate"?'_ He thought bitterly. He was supposed to be teaching his friends to fly not the other way around…

Neville also had a try but he did not go nearly as fast as the other two. He had a more cautious approach to flying. Harry guessed it was because he grew up so protected.

They flew taking turns for the rest of the hour. It was Harry's turn again and he went on a rollercoaster ride around the field. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. There were no Death Eaters and deadly curses to avoid. It almost felt strange - in the war, you had no time to enjoy the ride, you had to fly for your life, using every trick in the book to dodge and stay in the air, to stay alive.Harry still remembered his tactical flying training well. It was another thing he had learned in the French camp. Just as good as the Americans could fight, the French could fly. In the beginning, Harry thought that the training was a waste of time, apparition was a lot "safer" and quicker. He did not anticipate anti-apparition charms. The first time he was stuck like that he was ever so grateful that he had the training. Combat flying was a lot different from the simple tricks you used during Quidditch.

Harry wanted to enjoy himself so he forced himself to think only of the joy of flying. He would leave his past and the battlefields behind him. '_Time to have a bit of fun!_' Harry thought eagerly.

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As seven o'clock approached, Oliver Wood decided it was time to prepare for his meeting with his new seeker. He still had not seen the first-year fly and was a bit nervous. He trusted his head of house's judgement but he still wanted to see it for himself. He went into the locker-room to retrieve the Quidditch equipment. Through the window, he saw someone flying but he really did not pay much attention as he prepared. With only ten minutes to seven, he went outside to wait for his new trainee. As he waited, he observed the person flying. _'Wow he's amazing! I wonder who he is, if I had him on the team.'_ His mouth was actually open as he watched in amazement at all the stuff the mystery rider did on his broom. _'I didn't even know you could do half of that on a broom and I've been playing Quidditch for years.'_

As he thought all that, the rider flew straight at him stopping in mid air just before they would collide.

'What's up Oliver, ready to train me?' The person asked with a smile.

It took awhile for Oliver's shocked brain to register, process and respond to Harry.

'McGonagall wasn't kidding...' he said once he realized that the person in front of him was indeed Harry. 'You really are a natural.' Wood said with a grin.

'I guess…' Harry smiled.

'Okay, I reckon I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week.'

As he opened the crate to take out the Quaffle, Harry said, 'It's not necessary I already know how the game works and all the rules.' Harry really did not want to waste his time listening to Wood explain a game he already knew inside and out. Wood looked at him surprised. 'I thought you were muggle raised and have never seen a match?'

Harry nodded then explained. 'The moment I found out I was on the team I read all the books I could find on the game. Do you know the library has a whole shelf dedicated just to Quidditch?'

Harry had decided to create the image of bookworm for himself; it would explain his unnatural amount of knowledge. Anyway, that meant that he could spend more time with Hermione. True, Ron did not like it much, but he also received the benefits from it. His marks were a lot better than last time. Neville apparently also liked reading, but he mostly stuck to Herbology as his subject.

Wood just shook his head in amazement. 'Well then, let's try you out with a few of these; it's too dark to practice with the Snitch.' While he was saying that, he pulled some golf balls out of his pocket.

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Finally, the long awaited meeting with the elves. After this, there is no going back to canon. Harry has a new mission. If you have any ideas were and how he should find the other crystal pieces let me know I haven't figured it all out yet.

Also, who do you think the members of this little group of friendship should be. I have already five fix members but number six is yet to be decided.

Hope you enjoyed it, let me know. Review or chat with me in my yahoo group (link in profile) and please vote on my polls so I know what you would like to happen in this story.

Thanks for the reviews:

MagicallyInclined; pottersparky; arjay187; Edward95; pbdp; Sunfairy; dragonweaver; Hermy-78; SongoftheDarquePhoenix; ahappyjtm; The Fatadder; Vargulf; Bobboky; Legendary Chikyuu-jin; crazychef; Nyleve; nogoalielikeme; Annabel-lurvs-purple; Vyperr; Celtic-Dragon-89; hash-hash; Buffalo1fromSalem; anaknisatanas; irat; azntgr01; jayley; Sylkie; thsunami; majin buu 21; hpnut1; litlittledragon; jlyric; ValorOrgulloso; magiquill9; Morbious20; dogfoot75; Lady Prince; Silver Warrior; dave-gerecke; Weasel Debater; PSTurner; Cheezewizz; generals tso n gao; Silver Sparklze; Aria Dragoncrest; qtar1984; sropike; murgel; kehlencrow; one-village-idiot; ladynaruto13;Jensindenial3516; MrPowell.

Unfortunately its exam time once again and that means no time for writing so it will probably be **a month until my next update.** (Sniff sniff, I don't want to study.) Anyway, good luck to all those that share this misfortune. Keep smiling.

Amberile


	12. Harry’s least favourite day

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

I was inspired by the story _Nightmare of Futures Past_ by S'TarKan. Great story go read it. I give full credit to the author for his ideas.

Thanks to **pbdp **for being my springboard

Also huge thanks to **sarini **for all her help and advice, I never knew some of the things you showed me and the rest I did not even realize I was doing wrong. Thanks for all the patience.

Also a big thanks to** azzizzle **my other beta.

Sorry that this is later than expected but I was unexpectedly stuck in bed for a week, high on pain pills surrounded by ice packs. Anyone who has had their wisdom teeth removed will know what I'm moaning about. All I can say is **ouch**!!!

As I said on my yahoo group I now know how poor Harry feels like fighting fate. I had to fight her all the way to get this chapter out.

**Chapter 11 Harry's least favourite day**

Harry could hardly believe it when he realised that he had already been at Hogwarts two months. Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, training his friends and visiting the house elves. Harry sat in the windowsill looking over the grounds, this was one of those rare moments where everything was calm and Harry could relax and think. He sat and evaluated everything.

His homework was still all too easy! Since he already had learned everything, he hardly needed to study. He still kept up the bookworm image, which seemed to fool everyone. Everyone that is, except Percy. Percy was suspicious of Harry from the get go. Harry really could not understand why it was like this now; he never was like this in the other life. Percy began following Harry around, and he had to watch out for him all the time to make sure that he would not see or hear something he should not. It was starting to get so bad that even Ron started to notice it.

Harry smiled at the memory of what happened at dinner a few weeks ago.

'Why can't the git just leave us alone?' Ron had complained one day. Harry just shrugged his shoulders. He did not know what to do about their pesky Percy problem.

'I'm going to put a stop to it!' Ron exclaimed

'I really don't see how you're going to do that.' Harry inquired.

'It's time to use "twin power", it's going to cost us but I think it's worth it.'

'Did I hear someone summon us to use our mystic powers of mischief?'

'I think they did, oh brother of mine.'

Apparently, the twins were listening in on the conversation. Fortunately, Percy was at some kind of prefects meeting and was not there.

'Yeah, we need you to get Percy off our backs. For some reason he is following us around like a shadow.'

'Okay, we'll help you, but for services rendered we'll need a few cases of dungbombs.' Fred said with a gleaming smile. Ron on the other hand was frowning.

'Where will we get the galleons for that?'

'Seeing as it's my problem I'm willing to part with the money.' Harry answered.

'Anyway I still owe Peeves a box, do you guys recon you could get it if I gave you the money?'

'Why do you owe our favourite poltergeist?' the twins wanted to know.

'Tell you what, if you keep Percy busy enough that he can't tail us, I'll tell you the story as a bonus.'

'Deal!' Fred said extending his hand. George mockingly wiped a tear out of his eye.

'Our ikle Harrykins is growing up so fast, following in our great footsteps of mischief.'

That was a really amusing memory. Harry still did not know what the twins were doing about the Percy problem but it seemed to work. He and his friends were free to train as they planned.

Initially the Occlumency training seemed like a waste of time; they just could not manage it. Harry guessed that maybe his friends were just too young to learn. A small step to solving the problem came from a strange place.

One day Harry was sitting in the common room reading a muggle book about martial arts; it was his intention that his friends would see it and ask questions. That would give him an excuse to start training them in physical combat. He did not want to share his discovery of body magic yet, but getting them in better physical shape was a good start in preparing them better. As he read, he came upon a chapter about meditation and focus. According to the book, physically training the body and disciplining oneself help to focus the mind.

'_Well that explain a lot, it was only once I started training with Moody that I managed Occlumency. I really did not know _that_ had an impact - I thought I just did better without Snape,' _Harry thought as he read. _'Then again Master Li had me do all that running and meditating before he showed me anything about the arts.'_

The next day the group had started with their training in martial arts. Harry was very happy about that. _Two birds with one stone_.

After that things started to happen in the training of their minds. Another unexpected bonus was that their spell power seemed to increase. Apparently, because their bodies were stronger, they could handle more power and because their minds were more focused they channelled the magical energy better because their intent was clearer.

They were nowhere near having Occlumency shields in place to protect themselves but it was a good start. Harry was beginning to look for alternative ways for his friends to protect their minds in the meantime. He was sure there must be something like that out there he just have not discovered it yet.

Another unexpected thing that happened in his first two months at Hogwarts was his detention with the house elves. In his first life he did not even know of the existence of those creatures until Dobby arrived at his house in his second year.

To Harry's joy his week with the elves went surprisingly well. He managed to get to know most of the castle elves. He had used a very tactful approach so that he would not scare them away. House elves really were very sensitive beings. At the end of his week, he still would not call the elves his friends but they looked as if they liked him and maybe with time they would start to trust him and become his friends. One tiny step at a time - that was how Harry would do it. You could not undo generations of conditioning and servitude in one try. After that, Harry made a point to visit the elves at least once a week. He also made sure that his dorm was always so clean that the elves would not have to clean there. Initially his new approach to cleanliness rather freaked out his dorm mates, but they soon got used to it.

He hoped that the little elves would not feel insulted that his dorm was so clean. The strange little beings really had a strange way of looking at the world; they might think he was so tidy because he doesn't trust them to do the cleaning. Hopefully they would see it in the light that he intended it. So far, they were still enthusiastic whenever he came to visit them, so Harry hoped his plan was working.

Ginny's letters were also a pleasant memory; they were now writing to each other twice a week. It surprised Harry how easy it was to talk to her on paper. He had never had the opportunity to have this kind of relationship with her in his other life. There, Fate always seemed to place a wedge between them and prevented them from being together no matter how hard they tried to overcome the nasty circumstances they were in. She had died before they could sort everything out…

Harry sat silently staring into space, lost in his sad thought of loss and sorrow. He did not notice Hermione come sit next to him.

'Knut for your thoughts?' she asked, concerned.

She almost startled him but some small part of his brain registered her presence and her question. Harry smiled at her, once his whole brain was back in focus and not ready to curse his would-be attacker. 'I've just been thinking of everything that's happened since school started.'

'Oh,' she nodded. 'Yes this is really nothing like I imagined it would be.'

'You don't like it here?' Harry asked surprised.

'No, no it's nothing like that, Hogwarts is better then anything that I could ever have expected, just like the stories you used to tell me when we were younger. I just... I miss my parents sometimes, that's all. I also miss our adventures, seeking new magic, but I guess you teaching us all those useful spells makes up for it. '

Harry nodded his understanding.

---------------------------------

The next morning Harry woke up to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. For some strange reason this made Harry feel nervous and on edge. Then he realized why; it was Halloween. Today would be the day when Quirrell would sneak a smelly mountain troll into the castle to cover his attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. _'Great! Wonder what Fate has planned for me today?' _he thought as he got up and dressed for his daily run and sparring session_ 'Besides, I could handle a mountain troll if I have to. A cutting or bludgeoning curse should do the trick. Anyway, if I keep my friends together I won't have to fight the smelly beast. I'll just let the professors handle it. Hopefully Fate is in a nice mood today.'_

Unfortunately for Harry his friends also picked up on his nervous tension. They cornered him after their run.

'Okay, Harry, spill the beans, what's going on?' Ron asked. Harry did not answer immediately

'_I shouldn't be surprised. We spend so much time together that we're almost attuned to each others' thoughts. They really are the best friends ever. How on earth will I explain what's going on?' _

'Come on mate, you know you can tell us.' Ron tried again.

'The thing is … I don't know myself.' Harry lied; he really hated the necessity of deceiving his friends like this. 'I've got this really strong feeling that something very bad is going to happen tonight.'

'What do you mean, Harry?' Hermione asked, a little bit worried.

'I don't know. I just think we should stick together today and watch out for each other.'

'Okay mate.' Neville said, trying to reassure his friend.

'Do you think you're a seer, Harry?' Ron asked curiously.

Harry started to laugh at that. 'I really don't think so; anyway I don't much like fortune telling. Prophecies have a funny way of messing up your life.'

'What do you mean by that, Harry?' Neville asked.

'Never mind, just be careful today, please.'

'I agree with Harry. I also don't believe you can predict the future.' Hermione said as they walked back up to the castle. 'Anyway, there is no harm of looking out for each other as we do that already.'

---------------------------------

That morning in Charms Professor Flitwick announced that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something that all the first years been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom all around the classroom. All the first years, that is, that were not part of Harry's little study group. They had already done that spell a month ago. Harry and Hermione had learned that one even before they came to school – without the aid of wands. Ron really liked levitating stuff, especially when he shot crumpled bits of paper to an unsuspecting student in the study room. He was never the suspect because first years did not know that spell yet. After this he would have to think of another way to cause mischief. Ron could deny it all he wanted but deep down he was a prankster just like his twin brothers.

Harry and Neville were partnering today. Harry was thankful that he would not have to cope with Seamus' feather catching fire. Ron was with Hermione just like in the other time line.

'Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!' squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. 'Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.'

Harry and his three friends got it on their first try easily. _'This was really too easy.'_ Harry and his friends had been practicing multiple levitations. Harry knew that was a bit advanced for his friends but trying it would not hurt. He knew that being able to control more than one object at a time was a valuable asset in a fight. He was hoping that in a few years he could teach them to do multiple spells at once. That would have to wait though. It was incredibly difficult to learn, and most fully trained hit wizards could not even do that. Harry really hoped his friends would manage it in time. He would just have to keep pushing them and train them as hard as he could. He also reckoned that if they could achieve things that were seemingly impossible at their age they would not develop the mental blocks that impeded the use of magic in most of wizard society. If you believed the spell was possible it probably would be. Most wizards thought there was a limit to what was possible and in that believed they bounded the possibilities. Harry was experimenting on how far he could push that boundary.

Professor Flitwick had not noticed the four's success yet - students never got it on the first try – so he was not expecting anything really. Harry did not really care. He summoned more feathers for him and his friends when no one was watching. Soon the ceiling was full of floating feathers. Still, the little professor did not notice. He was looking for feathers hovering just a little off the desk, not high up against the roof.

Seamus and Dean were having a hard time. Harry was bored with it all; you could only levitate so many feathers before it got old. He decided to help the struggling boys so he patiently instructed them. Seamus, it seemed, was destined by fate to set fire to his feather. Harry calmly put it out with a wave of his hand. He could not use his wand because he was still levitating about ten feathers. At the moment his feathers were performing an aerial ballet to the amusement of Hermione. Ron and Neville were having a feather race. Hermione was not using the feathers. She wanted something more challenging so among Harry's feathers two inkpots were floating.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Dean shouted, waving his wand like a windmill. Harry had gotten Seamus a new feather.

'You're saying it wrong,' Harry said to them after awhile. 'It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o­-sa; make the 'gar' nice and long.'

'_Oh no, I'm sounding just like Hermione in my other live.' _

'You do it, then, if you're so clever.' Seamus snapped after his feather caught fire again. Harry just smiled and pointed at the air. 'Come on try it,' he said to the open mouth boys staring at the sealing. They nodded dumbly.

'Wingardium Leviosa!'

The feathers of the two boys rose off the desk in union and hovered about a foot above the desk.

'Oh, well done!' cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. 'Everyone see here, they've done it!'

'That's nothing sir,' Seamus said. 'If you look up at the roof, you would see that Harry and his friends' feathers have been up there for the whole period. He's the one that helped us do it.' Everyone looked up. Indeed, feathers were still up there dancing and racing around the two inkpots. The little man was shocked, _never in his life…_

'Sorry we didn't ask for more feathers, but we didn't want to bother you, you were busy helping other students.'

'N-no problem lad,' he managed when he had recovered. 'Tell me, who is doing what up there?'

'My feathers are the dancing ones, there are ten, I think. Ron and Neville have both two feathers up there and Hermione got bored so she switched to the inkpots after about five minutes.

'Ten points to Gryffindor, each,' the professor squeaked excitedly almost falling off his stack of books again.

---------------------------------

Just like Harry insisted, that morning they all stayed together and went down to the Halloween Feast as a group. The moment they entered the Great Hall, the Halloween decorations caused them to gasp in wonder. Harry knew the moment would not last but enjoyed his friends' excitement. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceilings while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkin stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start of term banquet. Harry was in no mood to eat. _'At least we're all here. That means there is no reason to fight the troll in the bathroom; everything's going to work out fine.'_ Nevertheless, the paranoid part of Harry waited for Fate to screw everything up. He waited impatiently for Professor Quirrell to interrupt the feast.

'Come on, Harry, nothing bad has happened all day. This is a feast and you're supposed to enjoy yourself.' Hermione said, seeing Harry's tense expression.

'Yea mate, we earned Gryffindor forty points today. We have a good reason to celebrate.' Ron added before he tucked in.

'_Halloween was a very unlucky day for me.'_ Harry thought bitterly. _'First my parents die on this day, probably why the wizarding world celebrates it with so much enthusiasm, then in my second year I hear the basilisk. The big attack on the ministry also took place on this day. Maybe Voldemort liked the symbolism of this day. So because he likes this day, my Halloween is always a crap day.'_

Neville also wanted to add something but Harry forestalled him. 'Has it ever occurred to you that maybe for some strange reason I don't like celebrating this day.' Harry asked. Hermione got a horrified expression on her face as realisation dawned on her.

'Why?' Ron asked.

'Oh, Harry, I am so sorry we did not think…' Hermione said.

'It's okay, Hermione. It happened a long time ago.' Harry answered.

Neville also looked sad when he realised what she meant. They did not have time to talk about it more because a few seconds later Quirrell came running frantically into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, 'Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know.' He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

'_Nice acting, should get an award for that.'_ Harry thought sarcastically as the scene played out just like the last time. _'Way to ruin a feast._'

There was pandemonium. Harry took in the scene with an almost calm amusement. _'Trust people to behave like mindless idiots when the unexpected happened.' _

It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

'Prefects,' he rumbled, 'lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!'

'_Why couldn't we just all stay here?'_ Harry thought irritated._ 'That would be the most logical choice; everyone is safely protected, grouped together in a central protected place. Why on earth does Dumbledore send us out there through unprotected grounds in a vulnerable position?'_

Percy was in his element. 'Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!'

'_As if he would know what to do if we met the troll.'_

'Where are those guys going off to?' Neville asked pointing at Dean and Seamus who were discreetly splitting of the group.

'Don't know, but we better go after them before they get themselves killed.' Harry answered.

'Harry, we could also get hurt if we follow them.' Hermione said, a little scared.

'I think Harry is right; we should go and get them.' Neville said, surprising Harry with his bravery.

'Percy better not see us; you know how he is these days.' Ron said as they ducked down and joined the Ravenclaw going in the same direction as their housemates.

'No, he is so involved with his own self-importance that he won't even notice that he only has two of the seven kids he is supposed to watch.' Hermione said as Percy walked ahead with Parvati, Lavender and the second years.

'What on earth are those fools thinking?' Harry asked as they slipped away from the bigger group down a deserted side corridor. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

'Percy!' hissed Ron, pulling his friends into a hidden passage covered by an old tapestry. Peering from behind it, they saw it was not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

'_Knew Fate had something to do with this,'_ Harry thought as Snape passed. _'She wanted us to see him; this is part of the riddle my friends have to solve.'_

'What's he doing? Neville whispered. 'Shouldn't he be down in the dungeons?

'He's heading for the third floor,' Hermione said and made to follow him.

Then they heard it - terrified screaming was coming from the other side of the secret passage. Harry did not think twice, he sprang into action. His friends did not have time to ask questions, they just followed him. As he ran, Harry could only think what a cruel bitch Fate was. In his last time line, he and his friends kept the troll busy in the girl's bathroom, leaving the way open for the Hufflepuffs to go safely to their common room. Because he changed things, they were being attacked. _'Every time I change things if seems to work out worse.'_ He was starting to doubt the words of the Elvin Queen. How could he embrace his destiny if things were going to turn out badly anyway?

A horrible scene met them as they entered the main corridor from behind a large stone griffin. The troll was twelve feet tall, its skin a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which it was currently swinging at someone. The two Hufflepuff prefects were sprawled unconscious against the wall. The first years were all cowering in a corner. It seemed only one person was brave enough to stand up against this monstrosity.

'Run, do not just stand there, I cannot distract him forever.' Susan screamed frantically to her bewildered classmates as she ducked the blow from the giant club. They did not move; they just huddled tighter together.

Harry went immediately into action mode, not even considering the danger. 'Stay in the hidden passage,' he told his friends as he ran towards the troll that nearly got Susan with his club again. He started to throw curses at the beast, but nothing seemed to work. Too late, he realised that Quirrell had put a spell repel charm on the enraged creature. It swung its club at Harry and threw him against the opposite wall, knocking his breath out and snapping his wand arm in the process. As he regained his senses, he saw Susan was lying unconscious against the opposite wall. Harry got up to resume his fight with the troll. He was nearly there when with its club the beast demolished one of the pillars that supported the roof. In a cloud of grey dust, rocks began to fall right where the first years were huddling. Harry immediately held his good arm in the air, muttering a charm to keep the boulders from crushing his friends and classmates. He knew he could not keep it up for long; the strain was too much for his magic to handle. Unfortunately, the Hufflepuffs were so frightened that they still stood frozen.

'Run, I can't keep this up!' Harry shouted desperately as the troll approached him. He knew if he moved the roof would fall in and his friends would die, but if he did not move the troll would get him and the roof would fall anyway. He was using all of his magical energy to support the roof; he had nothing left of defend himself against the approaching beast.

To his relief he could see, out of the corner of his eye, Hermione leading the frightened Hufflepuffs into the hidden passageway they came from. Neville was trying to get Susan and the unconscious prefects out of the way. He did not know where Ron was but could not look around to find him. He had to keep focusing until Hermione had lead all of the kids to safety. Harry hoped that she would hurry, because the troll had only eyes for him. He closed his eyes, expecting the inevitable blow to fall. It never came he heard Ron's voice shout a spell. He opened his eyes seeing the beast club flying out of its hands and cracking it on the head just as in the old time line.

Harry smiled as he heard his friend gasp in amazement. 'It was the first spell I thought of.'

Harry did not hear or see more, blackness was clouding his vision. His arm fell to his side as he collapsed.

The moment his hand dropped so did a part of the roof. Harry was luckily far enough away that he was not crushed, but he was still covered with dust and small pieces of debris.

Ron, Hermione and Neville ran to their friend, franticly digging him out of the wreckage, calling his name but he did not answer, did not move. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape found this scene: Hufflepuffs standing around senselessly and three frantic Gryffindors standing over the boy that was the centre of Dumbledore's worries.

---------------------------------

In the hospital wing, an invisible headmaster was standing in the corner observing an unconscious Harry and his friends that were sitting around him, whispering to each other.

It was noon the day after the dreadful incident and still Harry had not moved. His physical injuries could not be healed by magical means. According to Madame Pomfrey, he was totally magically exhausted and using any magic on him would be very dangerous. As of yet, he could not find out what happened as all the statements of the Hufflepuffs was a jumbled mess and the three Gryffindors were too worried about their friend to give a complete account. He suspected that only Harry knew what happened and what he had done to drain him so completely. Most of the students did not know. They said that Harry just stood there with his hand raised, waiting for the troll to get him. The Weasley boy told how he accidentally clobbered the troll: he saw his friend was in danger and he used the first spell that came to mind. As the spell was focused on the club and not at the troll, it worked. The troll was immune to magic, not physical force. Dumbledore had a good suspicion of what had happened but he would have to wait and see. For now, he was content to watch and listen. Something of the whispered conversation caught his attention.

'He knew, didn't he?' Hermione asked Ron. 'He knew, he warned us.'

'Yeah, I reckon he knew all along.'

'That's why he was so nervous the whole day.' Neville whispered back.

'It's strange that he was so agitated all day and he tried to avoid danger and keep us safe, but then when he heard the screams he ran as if on fire,' Hermione said, perplexed. 'I mean, he saw the perfects were out cold but he attacked the troll anyway. What was he thinking?'

'Don't know,' Ron answered. 'What I do know is that Hufflepuff would not have any first years left if he did not keep up that roof. Why didn't the idiots move?'

'Ron, not everyone can be as brave as you and Harry.' Neville began but Ron held up his hand.

'You were also brave. Nev. You and Hermione both helped save people. Sure Harry and I did a little bit of fighting but you did things that saved people.'

'I guess, but we would not have been able to do any of it if it weren't for Harry training us.' Neville said.

'That's true,' Hermione said in thought. 'I've known Harry since I was eight and he has always been training me, showing me how to control my magic and how to be a better me. I wonder what drives him. How does he know all this stuff? I know he reads a lot, but I probably read more than he does and I don't know half of the stuff he knows.'

'I've been wondering about that also. I know he says he's not a seer but he always knows what's going to happen. He's also the only first year that I know that hasn't gotten lost this year, not even once. He knows this castle better than my brothers do. It's kind of scary.'

'I know what you mean,' Neville said. 'I've also noticed something else. He always knows where everyone is in a room and he never wants to sit in seats with his back to the room. He always wants to be near the exits. If you move too quickly near him he's always ready to hex you. What's up with that?'

'I don't know, but he's always been like that. That is actually how we discovered my magic.' Hermione said thinking back of that day. I've never wanted to ask too much about it and I don't think I'm suppose to tell you but I… his uncle did something to him when he was younger. He let something like that slip at the beginning of the year. He said it wasn't that bad and that it doesn't happen anymore, but I just don't know...' Hermione said, feeling guilty for sharing one of her friend secrets but she continued anyway. 'I know I was never allowed to visit him at his house and he never wanted to go home after school. He stayed to practice and study almost the whole day. He only left school early to visit a man he called Master Li. I think he's the one that taught Harry the Arts.'

'I don't care about all this mystery stuff; I just wish he would wake up.' Neville said distressed. 'He has helped me so much I can't stand seeing him like this.'

'Hedwig and Amberile are making me crazy. Have you ever heard of pets visiting their masters in hospital?' Ron asked.

'Well they're not ordinary pets. You know he talks to them; they're his friends just like we are. I think they might be true familiars.' Hermione said.

'That's just another of those weird things about him - most wizards are lucky to find their familiar in their lifetime and he has two already at eleven, figures.' Ron said.

'I know, it's just another one of his weird quirks, but it's not just his familiars he talks with.' Neville added. 'He talks to all living creatures as if they're humans. Think of the fairies we found him with the other day, and his constant visits to the house elves.'

'Well, I think it's cute that he's made friends with the house elves. You could learn something from it.' Hermione defended.

'We know, it's just strange. He's always talking about going to visit vampires and werewolves. I've even heard him talking in his sleep about meeting the high elves. They're not even supposed to exist anymore.' Ron retorted.

'Well he always jokes that a general needs a diverse army.' Neville laughed, thinking about Harry and his dream of uniting all the magical races.

'The thing is, I don't think he is joking, Neville. Ever wonder why he is teaching us all of those hexes and defensive spells?'

'I don't know, but I trust Harry. He would never let any thing happen to us; he is helping us so that we can be better wizards.' Ron said.

'We know, Ron. Anyway, I think I know how to heal Harry. It will take ages for him to heal the muggle way,' Hermione said as she got up. 'Hold this crystal, Neville, and you take this one, Ron.' Hermione took an ordinary muggle herb out of her pocket and placed it into a bowl of water. She lit a contained blue fire under it and soon a sweet vapour filled the air. She then picked another crystal up and stood so they formed a triangle around Harry.

'Mione, I don't want to be a pain, but what exactly are we doing? This looks like some of those crazy rituals muggles that think they are witches do.'

'Just because they are not magical doesn't mean they can't do magic. I know what I'm doing. This won't interfere with Harry's core magic but it will help him heal faster.'

'Is this one of those alternative magic things you and Harry keep talking about?' Neville asked, interested.

'Yes, this is a combination of herbal healing and crystal energy focus. I don't have the right candles to combine that also but I think this will do. We had a teacher that was very interested in this form of healing. I don't know exactly how Harry got her to teach us, but it's really interesting.'

In the corner, Dumbledore was carefully considering everything that he just heard and was fascinated by what the young Granger girl was doing. He doubted that it would help but if it made them feel better he would not stop them. They needed to feel that they could help their friend. As long as they did not use a wand or gave Harry something to drink, he would just let them be. What the nurse would have to say about this whole thing was another story. She would probably ban them from her infirmary if she saw this.

To his great surprise a rainbow light was forming within the triangle, the energy then absorbed into Harry. Five minutes later Harry woke up. Albus was amazed; according to Madam Pomfrey Harry should have been out for at least another day.

'Welcome back in the world of the living.' Ron greeted his friend.

Harry groaned at his friends comment; he had been at death's gate more times than he cared to count and he did not like the feeling.

'Hi,' was all Harry managed to say. He was exhausted and every muscle in his body ached. _'This almost feels like I destroyed a Horcrux and then fought a dozen death eaters. Nice, my first time being magically exhausted in this life. Ah well, might as well get used to the feeling; I have all of those nasty things to destroy again.'_

'Take it easy, Harry, don't try to speak. We're so glad you're awake.' Hermione said as she put on his glasses.

'I'll get Madame Pomfrey; she made us promise that we would call her if anything happened.' Neville said.

'You better get rid of those crystals and herbs, Mione; I don't think she would appreciate your alternative healing methods on her patients.' Ron warned.

Harry smiled at his friends, but he was too tired to keep his eyes open and before the matron could return, he was asleep again.

---------------------------------

Dumbledore was sitting in his office considering all that had happened so far that year. He would never have imagined that the return of Harry Potter to the magical world would make him feel so inadequate. The more he learned of this young boy the less he knew about him.

To the outside world Harry and his friends looked inseparable, the _dream team_ as some Slytherins called them. They spent almost every moment together, yet from what he had overheard in the infirmary it would appear that Harry did not share his secrets, not even with his closest friends. He was planning to train an army consisting of wizards, werewolves, vampires and who knew what other creatures. He knew Fawkes said Harry was for the light, but everything he did reminded him of another boy who turned out to be a dark lord. He could not allow that to happen again. He would have to intensify his efforts in gaining Harry's trust. He felt it was his duty to keep Harry on the path of the light. He knew that Harry was extremely powerful; maybe he would even be stronger than himself and Voldemort someday. The problem was that if he was unstable, Dumbledore was very afraid of the prospect of a powerful unstable wizard. He made his decision. He would meet with Harry once a week under the pretence that he had noticed his aptitude for wandless magic and that he wanted to help Harry develop that gift.

---------------------------------

Harry was finally well enough to leave the hospital wing. He had to stay there a full week to recover to the satisfaction of the over protective matron. Luckily, he would not have a problem catching up his schoolwork; first year was still a breeze. Hermione made sure to bring him all his assignments so he knew what happened in class. At that moment, he was on his way to the headmaster's office. He wondered what it was all about; he was not looking forward playing word games with the old man. As he reached the gargoyle he frowned; he knew the head enjoyed letting everyone play this silly guessing game whenever they wanted to see him, but he was simply not in the mood. He glared at the gargoyle, daring it to say something. As he stared at it, he realised he could actually see the magic behind the enchanted object. The spell was so simple no one would think of it to try to open this ancient seemingly impenetrable stone door. Harry did not even bother to take out his wand, did not even move a finger. He just said the counter spell in his mind and the door sprang open. He grinned. Now he would never have to play that stupid candy guessing game.

Harry surprised the headmaster with his entry; he normally heard when someone spoke the password. He also had monitors to alert him of who was outside the office door. Harry once again avoided them. The only other person to ever do that was his old friend Alastor Moody. Dumbledore almost laughed at that thought; the boy was almost as paranoid as his old friend was, if the things he had heard were true.

'You wanted to see me, Headmaster?' Harry asked as he stood in front of Dumbledore's desk.

'Harry, my boy, sit down, please. Care for a lemon drop, some tea?'

'No thanks, I'm not in the mood for drugged candy.' Harry answered. He did not know why he was in such a foul mood. Maybe it had something to do with being cooped up in his least favourite place for a week. He had already lost count of how many times he had been in that place and this was still his first year.

Dumbledore raised his brow at that comment but refrained from responding. 'I have noticed that you show the rare talent of wandless magic. I was wondering if you would like it if I helped you develop this gift further.'

'Anyone can do wandless magic, the biggest problem is with the mental blocks the wizarding world programs its people with. Hermione has been doing wandless magic since she was eight, without any textbooks for help. With the right hand movements and Latin words you can create any spell you want.' Harry answered. He did not add that he usually showed the correct hand movements and suggested Latin words for spells as she felt that she had created most of their spells by herself.

Dumbledore was very surprised by this. He knew the young muggleborn witch was talented but he had no idea that she had been doing magic since she was that young. Harry had no doubt had an influence in that, she did say it was he that helped he with her magic. He thought that she meant doing less accidental magic, not actually performing wandless magic.

'I was not aware of her talent. I will have a talk with her as well. Thank you for informing me.'

'You and I both know this is not the true meaning of this meeting. I can probably do more spells wandlessly than you can yourself. I've been practicing since I was four. You, on the other hand, share the same block as most wizards. Sure you're powerful, but you have self-imposed limits that stifle your magical potential.'

'I really do want to help you with your magic, but it is true I did have ulterior motives. I want to get to know you better.'

'That's very nice, Sir, but that could be seen as favouritism. I also don't believe you want to know me, Harry. You want to get to know the bloody boy-who-lived. You want to know the freaking saviour of the wizarding world. You're afraid of me and you think that by smothering me you can control me. Your love won't save anyone - in the end it will lead only to death, your own and others. You are blinded by your desire to protect me.'

Dumbledore was again lost. Harry had a way to see through him and yet make incomprehensible conclusions. 'How do you know what will happen? I only want to do what is right.'

'I'm sick of this greater good crap. There isn't a greater good; the wizarding world is a corrupt, segregated, racist mess that will destroy itself with or without Voldemort's help. You can't save them from themselves and neither can I. I have often wondered why I don't just leave and see how the whole thing implodes.'

'Harry, I don't quite understand what you are talking about.'

'No matter, Headmaster, I'll make you a deal. I'll come visit you once a week and we can play chess and talk about muggle philosophy, I'll even give you a chance for showing me some of your advanced magic. In exchange, you give poor old Minerva a break. Being stuck as a cat for so long at her age is not healthy and I don't like spies. If I did not have so much respect for her and knew that she really cares, I would have hexed her a long time ago. Oh, and don't follow me around under that stupid chameleon charm. I can see magical auras so it is useless. I've known all along that you have been following us. So much for trust and honesty.' Harry said bitterly.

With that, Harry left without being dismissed first. The locked door opened for him with only a wave of his hand. He was again angry with himself; he just did not seem to get along with Dumbledore in this new life. Deep down that really hurt and all he could think of was _why_…

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. A few things came to light. Harry is not as good hiding things as he thought…

Yah, finally some use of alternative magic, I plan to put in more about it in chapter 13.

Dumbledore is trying really hard to make up with our hero, it won't work instantly but their relationship will improve gradually. I never planned to make this an evil/manipulative! Dumbledore story. Most of Harry's anger is because he never had time to grieve. So instead of facing his pain he lashed out against this world's Dumbledore. The old man I kind of the manifestation / symbol of all the sorrow of Harry's other life.

Until they make up and Harry faces his demons I'll have some fun writing their confrontations. I must be a nasty person too enjoy writing conflict scenes.(lol)

Please review. I love good questions and suggestions. Also check out my yahoo group. At the moment there is not a lot of action but I hope to change it with your help. It would be really fun to chat with all of you. The group also have a section where you can leave links to cool stories so please share your best stories. (Look for yahoo group link in my bio.)

Amberile B-)


	13. Quidditch

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thank to **pbdp **for all the conversations and ideas.

Also huge thanks to **sarini **my beta

I had this finished a while ago but had some connection trouble, but I finally got it sorted out.

My story won't be effected by Deathly hallows; I will mostly ignore the last book. Don't worry I won't stop this story just because the last book is out. The weird thing is that I enjoy fanfiction more than the canon books. lol

**Chapter 12 Quidditch**

As they entered November the weather turned very cold. The surroundings were just as Harry remembered Hogwarts at wintertime. With the change in climate it started to get difficult to do their daily exercise outside and Harry was still looking for a suitable place for the group to continue their practice. The only big place he could think of was the Chamber of Secrets but it still had a huge basilisk inside and he was in no mood to go snake slaying. He also did not want to give away the location of the room of requirements yet. He was afraid Snape would see it in one of his friends' minds. Harry was planning on looking for an alternative solution for Occlumency this Christmas. He was going to stay with Master Li training and also visiting his old teacher Mrs. De Villiers. For now he still had a month left to scour the Hogwarts library for methods to protect their mind; so far he had no luck.

Speaking of no luck, his first session with the headmaster did not go well at all; instead of helping him build a new and stable relationship, it was only helping to drive them farther apart. Harry supposed this was due to the Headmaster's weird behavior. He constantly tried to _save_ Harry and lead him back to the _light_. That only manage to irritate Harry because he did not need saving and the fact that the old goat thought he was evil and in need of saving was really insulting in a way. The more they argued and disagreed, the harder the Headmaster tried and his efforts lead to even more heated debates on the nature of magic, the use of Dark Arts and actually anything in the wizarding world you could possibly have an argument about.

Harry just could not understand why they could not get along. He was starting to accept the fact that he had lost his once mentor for good. Things would never be the same in this world as in his old one. That thought was so depressing for Harry that he resolved to try harder the next time.

Interestingly enough, his relationship with McGonagall was doing better than ever. Harry did not realize it initially but he started to trust her more as the time went by. The fact that she stopped following them in her cat form also helped a lot. She was always available when he was feeling down or after a bad night. She somehow found out about his "little dream problem" and encouraged him to talk about it. Neville and Ron's insistence that he was a seer provided him with the perfect cover story for the nature of his dreams. Instead of memories he represented it as possible futures he was "seeing". Although McGonagall was not a huge supporter of Divination, she did acknowledge that true seers existed and that Harry could possibly be a dream-diviner. Harry did not care if she believed in it or not; he found it cathartic to tell someone about the horrors in his dreams. He also knew she would never tell anyone else anything about what he told her. Luckily Trelawney still hadn't found out that there was another "seer" in the castle. That would be a nightmare.

Harry still did not like the idea that his friends thought he was a psychic. Whenever it came up, which was too frequent for his liking, he would deny it and change the subject. Ron and Neville had lots of fun mocking Harry about this. If they were annoying him too much, Harry would hit back by mocking Neville about his new friendship with Susan. But that only dampened their spirits for a moment before they would start again. Hermione just huffed at their antics. She still did not believe it was possible to predict the future, although it was starting to freak her out how often simple things Harry warned them about turned out true. Hermione also did not mind Susan occasionally hanging out with them. A little female company did much to preserve her sanity. Three boys could be a handful.

The only positive thing Harry could think of that the change of climate had brought about was the beginning of the Quidditch season. Oliver tried to hide his "secret weapon" but as Draco already knew about Harry's new broom it really was a futile effort. As the news spread- it's amazing how fast it can happen in a magical castle- the flood of well wishes and condolences started to flow in. Harry was ready to hex the next person that made a stupid remark about catching him with a mattress. He knew he was the best flyer in the damn school.

As the time for the match between Slytherin and Gryffindor approached it only got worse. Harry was not nervous at all, but the people around him were really starting to bug him. Luckily he had his friends to distract him and keep stupid people away. He found the best place to avoid people was the library, so he and his friends ended up studying a lot - to the absolute delight of his bushy haired friend. Ron and Neville were slowly coming around to the idea of studying, though that did not mean that Ron did not complain a lot. He would still rather play a game of chess before he did his homework or, to his dismay, extra research.

With all their time in the library Hermione forced them all to look for more information about Fluffy and possible things he could be guarding. For someone that did not want to be part of anything involving rule breaking she was sure obsessed with gathering information. Harry knew from the start she was a sucker for mysteries.

When Harry was not busy with Quidditch, with his friends in the library or busy training them in magic, he has contemplating his strange visit to the elves and the crystal that was now permanently around his neck. He found it strangely comforting to hold it. He still had no clue what to do with it or how to find the other pieces, for now he was too busy with everything happening around him to do anything about it. It was another one of those things that would have to wait till the holidays.

Harry paged through _Quidditch Through the Ages _to distract this random thought taking him over. Hermione lent it to him again this time. He already knew everything that was in it but he read through it anyway just because it was a nice gesture from his friends. He made sure that he appreciated them more this time round; he knew life was fleeting and that he should cherish all the precious time he had with his friends.

'This is useless,' he said to himself as his mind went off on another depressing tangent. Sometimes he just could not focus; he was starting to get annoyed with himself.

'Hey guys, lets go for a walk, I need some fresh air.' Harry said as he got up from one of the study tables in the common room. It was break time and they still had twenty minuets to squash. Hermione frowned; she was still busy with one of her assignments but as she saw the boys' eager faces she could not resist and also started packing her things.

It was really cold out in the courtyard but it was helping Harry a lot to clear his mind. Hermione, being the brilliant witch that she was, conjured a bright blue fire for them again. Neville and Ron were paging through a book about interesting plants that Susan lent him. Neville was debating the usefulness of Herbology in magic with Ron. Ron insisted that it was glorified gardening and not a useful as charms. That did not put Neville off - Herbology was his passion and he was determined to convert Ron. Hermione and Harry listen to the discussion with amusement.

As they were standing around the flame to get warm Snape happened to pass. As the friends did not know if it was allowed to have a fire they quickly turned around to hide it. Harry mentally cursed his friends; they looked guilty as hell and would obviously attract the dour potions master's attention. '_Will need to teach them how to operate covertly and lie effectively_.' How to do that was a thought he would leave for another time. Harry was slowly compiling a mental list of all the things he needed to teach his friends and also creative ways on how to do that without waking their suspicion.

As expected the greasy bat limped over to them. Just like the previous time he did not see the fire, but as predicted he was looking for a reason to deduct points. Soon Gryffindor had five points less, Neville was one Herbology book short and Harry's friends had another theory to ponder.

Neville and Ron were convinced that Snape was a thief and that Fluffy got him while Hermione was adamant that a teacher would never do something like that and that they had no proof that Fluffy even did that; he could just as easily have sprained his ankle. Harry said that he was staying out of it and that they should figure it out on their own.

'What's the use of having a seer as a friend if he won't tell you anything?' Ron complained.

If he wanted to get information, _that_ was really the wrong approach. '_Here's a little tip_, _never annoy your source of information. It has a strange way of drying it up.' _Harry thought annoyed to him self knowing he would never say it aloud to his over enthusiastic friends.

Unfortunately Hermione's argument lost credibility after Neville went to the staff room to recollect his book. He heard Snape's conversation with Filch about Fluffy and saw the nasty bite mark.

Harry wanted to prevent that because he did not want them to waste time suspecting the wrong person but he did not act on his impulse. He was really proud of Neville for having enough courage to face the menacing teacher and get his book back.

-------------------

That night Harry had a bad night again. He kept dreaming of all the times Voldemort tried to kill him. He supposed it was better than his other dreams - at least he did not have to live through the deaths of his friends again. He was in a really bad mood as he went down to breakfast that morning. The bright weather reflection and cheerful mood in the hall was an ironic contrast to the way Harry felt.

As Harry played with his food he realize the reason for his bad night' Quirrell would try to kill him again today. _'How nice the first attempt on my life, in this life, what a wonderful warm fuzzy feeling.' _Harry thought sarcastically.

'Come on mate you need to get some food into you, you will need your energy to crush the snakes.' Ron encouraged.

'Don't be nervous Harry, you'll be great.' Neville added.

'Try just a little toast.' Hermione wheedled.

'I'm worried; something is going to happen today. Keep your wands with you and keep an eye on the teachers' box, please.'

'How do you know, mate?' Ron asked with a sly smile on his face.

'Don't go down that road again, I'm serious, be on your guard.' Harry answered annoyed. He knew that every time he warned them about something he was unwillingly re-enforcing the notion that he was psychic.

'Okay mate, we'll keep an eye out for you.' Ron answered not wanting to aggravate his friend more before the big match.

'If you're really worried you can borrow this.' Hermione said while taking off an amulet she was wearing and handing it to Harry.

'What is that? Neville asked curiously as Harry put it on with a grateful smile to Hermione.

'It is a protection amulet; Mrs. De Villiers showed us how to make them.' Harry answered.

'Even if nothing weird happen I still think it's a good idea that he wear one. From what I've read and the things Ron said so far, it sounds like a brutal game. You can never be too careful.' Hermione said.

'Do you recon it'll really work, it's not just muggle superstition?' Ron asked interested.

'I'm positive it will. Actually, I think it's a good idea to make one for each of us. Harry can borrow that one until I make one for him. As good as he is with crystal magic he is useless with the runes that needs to be engraved on them.'

'Hey, that's not my fault; I can't be good at everything. Anyway I still kick your ass with tune magic; you really should be kept away from instruments.'

Hermione just huffed at that comment. 'There's nothing wrong with my violin playing, thank you very much.'

'Of course Mi.' Harry said in a mock placating voice.

'Watch it, I can always take my amulet back and then you can fall of your boom without any protection. It would be your own fault, because you were nasty to your good friend that only wanted to help you.' The bushy haired witch threatened with an evil smile.

Harry almost burst out laughing at that; trust his friends to distract him in the best way possible. Pretending to be very scared he pleaded in a small voice. 'Please don't, dark mistress, I'll be good. I'm not worthy of your kindness.'

That comment was too much for the rest to the friends and they all started laughing uncontrollably.

-----------------------------

Eleven o'clock arrived and the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many of the excited students had omnioculars with them and the Gryffindors and Slytherins were proudly displaying their house colors.

Harry watched the scene from out of the changing room. His mind was made up; he would not allow fate to ruin his first Quidditch game of his new life. He was comforted by the fact that his friends were watching out for him.

He saw his friends and roommates in the top row; they had once again made a brightly colored banner to show their support. Harry smiled at that - not everything was bad in life, small things like that made it worth it. That was the kind of moments he was trying to preserve with his efforts.

Before he got too melodramatic Oliver called him over for his big pre-game pep talk. The twins once again spoiled the moment for the overeager captain and Harry could not help but to smile at their exuberance before a game.

The team walked onto the pitch to loud cheers. Harry never realized how much he missed this - it was a wonderful feeling. He could almost taste the crowd's excitement.

Madam Hooch made the usual futile effort to convince the snakes to play fair and Marcus Flint almost crushed poor Oliver's hand in the mandatory handshake.

They mounted their brooms and after a loud blast from Madam Hooch's silver whistle they were off.

The game went normally as any game, with the crowds cheering and Lee Jordan keeping McGonagall busy with his colorful commentating. Harry found it interesting that the game did not play out exactly as the one in his first life.

Apparently Quidditch was too random to be bound by fate. Harry stored that thought away to ponder about for after the match, when he had time to focus on it.

He decided to make his move when he saw Hagrid join his friends. He noticed that Hermione kept a close eye on the teachers' box throughout the game. With his better perception of magic he could detect the subtle probing of Quirrell, searching for a weak point in the charms on his broom. Harry knew it was only a matter of minutes before he would start cursing him; so far Hermione's amulet was making things just a little bit more difficult for the possessed professor.

Out of his eye Harry caught sight of a flash of gold but ignored it, he hoped it was only a reflection of a wristwatch like last time and not the snitch.

He made a quick dive down pretending that he saw the elusive golden ball. As predicted the Slytherin beaters tried to put a stop to his efforts by sending the bludgers after him. He strategically placed himself so that they would hit the deadly metal balls in the direction of the teachers' box. With a little help from his wandless magic, he made sure the menacing projectiles head straight for the stuttering idiot with the turban.

With a thud and a crack, the would-be assassin was hit in the chest and fell backward off his seat. A hush fell over the shocked crowd. Madam Hooch blew her whistle to pause the game while the other teachers levitated their injured colleague down the stands so that he could be taken to the hospital wing.

The poor Slytherin beaters got an earful for their bad aim, hitting the poor professor like that. They only shrugged. They were just doing their job; they could not help that the professor did not know how to duck.

Nobody suspected a thing - nobody that is except for the dour potions master. He gave a hard stare in Harry's direction, thinking that the boy either had the best luck in the world or that this was another one of those weird moments that seemed to frequently happen around him. He could have sworn that the bludger did not have the speed to make it to the spectators' box. For some strange reason it accelerated unnaturally and hit the defense professor. Somehow the boy had something to do with this. He just knew it. What was even more annoying was that the brat managed to save his own life so he still had the blasted live debt to repay. He knew perfectly well what was going on before the unexpected "accident". After all, he was also a master in the Dark Arts and he could sense it the moment it was used. He would have to keep a closer watch on the brat and the stuttering idiot. Apparently looks were very deceiving when it came to those two.

After the injured professor was removed and the crowd settled down the game started again with a sharp whistle.

Harry just smirked; now it was time for some fun. It's amazing how much fun it was to play the game when someone was not trying to kill you. Okay fine, the Slytherin beaters still tried it, but that was part of the game.

-------------------------

A cheerful group of friends made their way over to Hagrid's hut. After an hour of action-packed fun, Harry once again manage to win the game by catching the snitch.

'Man the way you managed that bludger, it was awesome!' Ron exuded, reliving the game in detail.

'Too bad poor professor Quirrell wasn't so lucky.' Neville said.

'About that,' Hermione started with a thoughtful frown. 'I was watching the teachers' box just like Harry asked and… something did not seem right. That bludger did not act normally, according to simple laws of physics. It wasn't supposed to have gone that far.'

'Really, Hermione, it's a magical object. It's not supposed to conform to muggle science.' Ron retorted.

'I know that, but I was watching the teachers and when it happened, Professor Snape wasn't blinking.'

'What does that mean?' Neville asked.

'Do you remember when we read up on jinxes?' Hermione asked.

Comprehension dawned on Neville's face. 'Why do you recon he would want to kill out defense professor?'

'Well rumor has it he's been after that post for ages.' Ron said.

'Nonsense yer lot, I don' know why tha' bludger acted like tha', but Snape wouldn' try an' kill another professor.' Hagrid said hotly.

'But he's up to something,' Ron argued. 'How else would you explain the giant bite mark on his leg? Only that three-headed dog of yours have such huge mouths.'

'How you know about Fluffy?' Hagrid asked.

'Fluffy, honestly Hagrid.' Hermione said, still not believing he could name that monster that.

'Yeah, bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year- I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-'

'Yes?' said Ron eagerly, while Harry was smirking at the scene unfolding in front of him. His poor half giant friend was never any good with secrets.

'Now, don' ask me no more,' Hagrid said a bit flustered. 'Tha's top secret tha' is.'

'I agree with Ron, he's up to something,' Neville also argued. 'He may even try to steal it.'

'Rubbish,' said Hagrid. 'Yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. Snape's a teacher. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel-'

'Score for the dream team,' Harry said dryly.

'So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved.' Hermione asked eagerly, burning to go do some more research.

Hagrid looked furious with himself. Harry really felt sorry for his friend. He was also interested in what his friends would do with this new information. He was also slightly annoyed that they felt sorry for poor Professor Quirrell. Time would tell what would happen.

----------------------

I know this is a ridiculously short chapter. I am dreadful with writing Quidditch so I just skipped over it. Next chapter should be a lot longer. Anyway I thought this was a good place to stop it. It's ironic that my shortest chapter was the hardest to write.

Next chapter will be about Christmas. I finally get to introduce the original female character I've planned from the start. I'm so excited I'm jumping in my seat.

Thanks to:

ebbie; The French Dark Lord; doRodrigo; Annabel-lurvs-purple; jayley; ReadingRed; stoictimer; jabarber69; FFML Tim; Jensindenial3516; Hodemi; Morbious20; Tombadgerlock; Serafin982; taxzombie; Moony's Metamorphmagus; Grey Jackett; kehlencrow; AlisSilly; anaknisatanas; Celtic-Dragon-89; hpnut1; JVTazz; nikkila; Lady Prince; Zeromaru Chaos Mode; KaiPhoenix; Lord of the Trees; PSTurner; weaslette155; FF-loverHP1; GinnyLover14; Silver Warrior; Lynxgoddess; qtar1984; zmanjz

Please review and visit my yahoo group.

Amberile.


	14. Christmas and Black surprises

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

I am soooo sorry this chapter is late. It was truly circumstances out of my control.

----A HUGE thanks to **Danu40k **you're a lifesaver.-----

**Chapter 13 Christmas and Black surprises **

Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. From the atmosphere of cheer in the air it was clear; Christmas was coming! The Weasley twins, always up to mischief, bewitched several snowballs to follow Quirrell around. They hoped to knock his turban off and "scientifically" prove that he filled it up with garlic.

A few owls made it through the stormy weather to deliver post. One of those owls brought the news that Ron could go with Neville for the holidays. Ron was really down about having to stay alone at school over the Christmas break before the letter came. His parents and little sister were visiting his brother Charlie in Romania. But Neville would not hear about his friend being sad and lonely and immediately owled his Gram about the problem. She was thrilled that Neville was making such good friends and extended an invitation to his red head friend. Harry would get a lift from Hermione's parents to Master Li's house. So everything was set for the friends Holiday.

Harry was glad that he did not have to spend his Christmas at Hogwarts. He truly loved the castle, but it felt nice to have somewhere else to go. The upside was that Malfoy could not taunt him like the last time.

No silly comments about his family not wanting him. True he was not going home to his family, but no one needed to know that. Another positive change was that with the different outcome of the Quidditch match, Harry, did not need to endure taunts and impersonations of a wide-mouthed tree frog.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Malfoy, was one frustrated little snake. He was so jealous and angry, but ther was nothing he could do about it. All his attempts to rile up the "dream team" had thus far failed. His only consolation was to watch Professor Snape degrade the golden Gryffindors, in the chilly potions dungeon. It was pathetic to say the least. He planed to ask his father for help over the holidays. He knew his father would not be pleased with him if he found out of all the humiliation the Gryffindors put him through, but he wasn't a Slytherin for nothing. He would present the situation in such a way that his father would help him, and be proud of him for being so devious.

The bell rang, signifying the end of another torturous potions class, and pulled Draco out of his musings. The Gryffindor friends quickly exited the drafty dungeons. They had no desire to stay in that place any longer than was absolutely necessary.

Harry noticed that Snape was keeping a very close eye on him. It was starting to really annoy him. He also occasionally tried to break into his mind. Harry was seriously considering complaining to the headmaster about it. He did not want to look weak by running to the headmaster with his problems, however he could only take so much before his irritation reach its peak. He was afraid he would lose his temper and hex the git into oblivion, one of these days.

Maybe if he complained to Dumbledore, the old man would see it as a sign of trust and ease up on his efforts to _save_ him.

On their way to a warmer environment they ran into Hagrid carrying a huge fir tree. Harry could vaguely remember a confrontation with Malfoy in his last life, but the ferret was nowhere in sight this time around. This worried Harry slightly; he did not like not knowing what was going on. He was almost obsessive about being in control. This, while being a small insignificant change, could signify that something major was occurring and he was not aware of all the components. There was nothing he could do about it now, it was Christmas and he would be leaving the next day. He planed to enjoy himself. He could worry about Slytherins and their devious plans when he got back.

Harry was pulled out of his musings when he heard the conversation his friends were having with his giant friend.

'The library?' asked Hagrid. 'Bit keen, aren't yeh? It's jus' before yer holiday.'

'Oh, we're not working, we're researching.' Hermione said brightly.

'Yeah, ever since you let Nicolas Flamel's name slip we've been on it.' Ron added, for once not minding _too much_ spending time in the library.

'You _what_?' the poor half giant said in shock. 'I've told yeh t' drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'.'

'We're only curious about who he is.' Neville said.

'Le' me guess, he's the ring leader.' Hagrid asked eyeing Harry wearily.

'No, he already knows everything but he won't tell us. What's the use of having a psychic friend if he won't share his knowledge?' Ron said bitterly.

'I don't suppose you'll tell us and save us the trouble?' Hermione said before Harry could get annoyed at Ron's comment. She really wished the red head would drop it.

'I'm sayin' nothin',' said Hagrid flatly.

'It was worth the try,' said Neville. 'We'll just have to keep looking.'

'I still don't understand your tip Harry.' Ron said as they walked to the library, away from Hagrid. 'What do you mean by "think old". Can't you give us another clue?'

'Okay,' Harry said thinking a bit then getting a devious smile. 'Will "not recent" help?'

'You're hopeless, you know that.' Ron said frustrated.

'I know, but this is the best way for you to learn, it would be no fun if I gave you all the answers, wouldn't it?'

'You spend too much time with Mione, I can think of a lot of things that is more fun than spending my time looking through books.'

Hermione gave here red haired friend an evil glare. Ron paled at it and started to apologize. Neville and Harry were the amused onlookers. Ron really knew how to put his foot in it. Neville feeling sorry for his friend came to his rescue.

'Don't worry Hermione, we can continue with our search over the holidays. Longbottom manor has a huge library.'

At that the bushy haired witch calmed down. Ron did not know if he should be grateful for the rescue or horrified by it. He was starting to develop a library allergy.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After an enjoyable train ride to London and a lot of goodbye hugs, (Hermione did mostly the hugging, while the two boys tried to not look too embarrassed. Harry looked on with amusement as his friends squirmed. Not appreciating Hermione's sweet gesture.) Harry was on his way to, what he hoped to be, one of his most enjoyable Christmases ever.

He was only a little anxious about telling Master Li about the wizarding world. After a lot of consideration, he decided it would be better if his mentor knew. Anyway it would make it easier to keep in contact with him if he could just send Hedwig with a letter. Harry had no idea how his Master would take the news. He did think that the old man suspected something. The fact that he knew about aura reading suggested to Harry that his Master knew more than he was letting on. He would just have to gather his Gryffindor courage and tell his Master. The only decision he still had to make was, when. '_Would it be better to do it now or wait till it was time for me to go back to school?'_

The Grangers car stopped in the driveway of his Master's house marking the end of Harry's debate time. They got out of the car and it was Harry's turn to suffer under Hermione's overdramatic goodbye treatment. Unlike his two friends he appreciated the hug. Just the fact that he could once again share such a moment with his friend was precious to him. He knew it could be gone in the near future. If Ron only knew how his counterpart missed those hugs once they were gone…

Master Li was really glad to see his student again after such a long time. After the Grangers drove off and he settled in, he went to his Master where he was waiting for him in the garden beside the fountain. Master Li's house was next door to the nursery where Harry initially met him; there was a small garden gate in the back linking the two properties.

'Have you studied hard, my student?' the older man asked as Harry sat down beside him in a meditation position.

'Yes Master.' Harry answered almost automatically.

The master started to laugh and Harry looked at him in confusion.

'Always young men give the same answer to that question, no matter if it's true or not. The key in life is not to be so predictable.'

Harry still frowned, his master had a way of teaching him a lesson by totally confusing him and leaving him to puzzle things out for himself. He sometimes suspected that his master would say random nonsense just to see what interesting lesson Harry would learn from it. Harry could never decide if it was a brilliant teaching method of a totally insane coincidence.

The Master went on seemingly not noticing his students lost expression. 'I see you have kept up with the Arts, it is good.'

'I started a little exercise group with my friends.' Harry answered.

'Still much to learn, will be busy this holiday.'

Harry just nodded at that. After a term of school where he learned nothing new except for his private study projects. He was eager to learn some new things.

'You want to tell me something?' The master asked after a few minutes of silence. Harry looked over to his master with surprise.

'Your muscles are so tense that your whole body is screaming it. Come speak.' Master Li answered the unspoken question.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

While a young man confided to his mentor, an old man was pondering his last meeting with the same student. Dumbledore sat at his desk looking out of the window at the white Hogwarts grounds while stroking the warm feathers of his familiar Fawkes. He had had a rocky start with the boy of his musings and it seemed that no matter how hard he tried he was losing. He just could not bear the thought of seeing another boy under his care walk the road to darkness. He had hoped that his weekly discussion with Harry would improve their relationship. After the disastrous first meeting, he almost lost hope. Harry seemed to disagree with anything he said. He was also very afraid of the comments the young man made about the Dark Arts. Harry's answers suggested that he had intimate knowledge about them already. How much, he was afraid to guess. But he knew he would never give up in his efforts to save the boy. Their second meeting went a lot smoother, it would seem that Harry made an effort to work on their relationship.

In their last meeting he had given Harry his Father's invisibility cloak as an early Christmas present. He knew he was opening up the door for more mischief, but hoped that through this gesture he would gain some trust from his charge. He convinced himself that the boy could not get up to too much trouble with the

Cloak. After all, he could see through cloaks, so he would know what the boy was up to.

As he handed the cloak over to Harry he expected the boy to ask a lot of questions. He was raised by muggles and invisibility cloaks were really rare.

Yet again, the boy surprised him by hugging the cloak to himself, with a far off look in his eyes. Dumbledore really wondered what the boy was thinking about. He did not dare to try and use Legilimency. It would shatter the fragile base of trust that they had managed to build. After the boy snapped out of his thought he simply thanked Dumbledore and commented how useful it would be and what a brilliant safety precaution it was.

Another thing that was bothering the headmaster, was why Harry was going home this holiday. He knew from overheard conversations that he was not fond of his family. So why would he then go, if he could stay in the castle or visits a friend like Mr. Weasley was visiting Mr. Longbottom. Was it possible he was going somewhere else? If that were the case where would he go?

After a while, the headmaster conceded that he was wasting his time, it would not help wondering about the boy now. He was organizing more protective measures for the stone. He would contemplate his next steps to help the boy when he got back from his holidays. He would contact Arabella to check out the boy's home to make sure he was there and that everything was all right. Maybe things were not that bad, and the boy was happily spending some time with his family.

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Draco was really angry at the moment. He was so distracted with his thoughts of revenge against Potter that he did not pay attention in his last potions class. Naturally the strict potions master noticed it. He would never scold him, a Slytherin, during a class but nothing prevented the dark Professor form confronting him after class.

The other houses could think what they want about preferential treatment; they had no idea how strict their head of house was. He always gave them extra assignments to do and they were not allowed to tell anyone about it. Contrary to popular belief, Slytherins did not do better in potions because the professor gave easier marks. No, they did better because they worked harder and were more practiced.

No Slytherin dared to incur their head of house wrath by not handing in these extra assignments or doing sloppy work.

So now Draco had a boatload of extra potions homework over the holidays. As if he did not already had a full schedule. He knew his father would be starting to teach him the Dark Arts. For all that he pretended to be the perfect dark wizard he was a bit apprehensive. His father could be brutal. Hopefully he could use what he learned this winter against Potter and his gang.

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The conversation with master Li went surprisingly well. The old master said that he was aware of a tribe that practiced a brand of the arts that was rumored to be magically enhanced. He said that he had always suspected that there was something different about Harry. His aura was just too strong in comparison to other people.

Harry suspected that they might be practicing a better-developed form of the body magic he discovered. He would love to learn from them, but he had no idea how to get in contact with them. It would not be possible anyway; they were in Japan and he in England. He was good with making portkeys but he was not powerful enough yet to make an international portkey.

Harry was glad that he revealed this secret to his master. Now his master would be able to send him advice anytime he needed counsel. The only bad thing about it was that now he had to combine his magic and fighting arts. Master Li started of by ordering him to wandlesly levitates a feather while he was doing one of his kata's. It sounded simple enough but it took a lot of concentration to actually do.

Harry was exhausted after the first few days. Master Li gave him the day of to relax a bit. He said it would be cruel of him if he did not give Harry time to have some fun. After all it was his holiday. Harry did not mind all the work he had been doing, he actually enjoyed spending so much with Master Li in his dojo or out in he garden. However a day off was a nice idea, he planed to go to the movies and do some last minute Christmas shopping.

Harry made his way into town. Hopefully he would not run into his relatives. Just to make sure he did not run into some trouble, he changed his appearance slightly. Changing his hair from black to brown and his eyes to a lighter shade of green. He still could do nothing about his scar, the only thing he had manage to do so far was to move it up a little bit so that in was better covered by his hair and not so noticeable. He was really irritated by his inability to do more. He was supposed to disguise himself completely with this special ability but his most noticeable trademark he could not change. Today he was not too worried; he was in a muggle town with no wizarding residents, only an old squib.

The mall was crowded with cheerful people also doing last minute shopping or spending time with family and friends.

Comparing the muggle decorations to the magical ones he was used to seeing at Hogwarts, Harry definitely preferred the magical ones. The plastic ornaments overcrowding the fake trees were just a little bit too tacky for his taste. Loud Christmas carols blasted from speakers adding to the cheerful mood. Harry found it was a little bit irritating. Give these "happy" people a month and they would be back to being selfish bastards not giving a damn about peace and good will.

Harry guessed his morbid disposition was because he was alone and did not have a family too share this joyous time with. His bad Christmas experiences of his previous live also influenced how he experienced this holiday. He was missing Sirius and remembering the one Christmas that they had spent together. He just wished these people would appreciate more the precious gift they had; family. Instead, they reduced their affection to fake holiday cheer and expensive gifts. People were stupid beings and Harry once again wondered why he cared so much what happened to the world. Maybe because he was just another stupid person also, not really different from everyone else, except for the fact that Fate had some kind of vendetta against him.

After he finished his shopping and had seen two movies he was in a much better mood. Deciding it was time to go back to Master Li's home he quickly ducked into the nearest men's room and shrunk his purchases.

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As he walked home, he was thanking whoever invented the warming charm. Harry was not really paying attention as he walked home. The day at the movies put him in a better mood. He had almost completely pushed away the thought about his godfather when he saw a black haired person standing beside the road, out of the corner of his eye. For some strange reason the sensation of familiarity flickered through his mind. However before his brain could analyze that thought or even wonder why anyone would be standing outside in this cold weather, the person walked in front of a passing delivery truck.

Without sparing a moment for thought Harry pushed as much magic through his body as he could. Enhancing his reflexes through bodymagic. As he jumped into the street he felt as if the whole universe was compressing, the skies grew dark as if Fate was showing her displeasure through the weather. But in the same instant it felt as if the earth was rejoicing at some unknown victory. This all passed in an instant.

Before he knew it he was laying on the other side of the road on top of the black haired girl with an angry truck driver screaming about parents letting their children wonder the streets.

He got up gingerly checking himself for injuries, noticing that there was nothing seriously wrong. He only dislocated his shoulder. Looking down at the girl still sitting on the pavement he expected to see gratitude and shock. However the girl glared at him angrily.

The driver seeing that he was being ignored by the children and not wanting this on his driving record got back in his truck and drove off. A few curious passersby paused to take in the scene but as they realize there was no tragedy to gossip about soon went on their way.

Harry was unsure what happened or what to do, so offered his hand and asked.

'Are you all right?'

The girl glared at him ignoring his hand.

'Why did you do such a stupid thing?' she asked crossly.

'Pardon?' Harry asked confused.

'Stupid brave hero, it was my time to go. I'm not supposed to live. Oh, _She's_ going to be _sooo_ mad.'

Harry just stared at the girl flabbergasted. _'What in the world was she going on about?_

'I wanted to go on my own terms I don't want to be murdered!'

'_Wow this one is cracked.' _Was one of the only coherent thoughts Harry's confused mind could produce. Deciding that he should find out what was going on he asked.

'Why do you think you should have died today?' Harry was not sure that was the wisest question to ask a suicidal person, but he did not know what else to ask.

The girl looked unwilling to answer and avoided looking at him while cringing away from his touch. Harry knew he would get nowhere like this so he sat down again. As she looked up at the sudden movement he started straight into the ocean blue eyes. It seemed like some of her resistance melted.

'Your him!' she squeaked in surprise. 'Do you have any idea how pissed _she_ is at you already. To top it all you went and save my life.'

'Oookaaay.' Harry said starting to think it was useless to talk to the girl she was clearly not all there. 'Whom are you talking about?' Harry asked in a final attempt to find out what was going on.

'Fate, she's a real bitch let me tell you and she let me know that I will be murdered by my squib uncle tonight.'

Al lot of thought flooded Harry's brain as he heard her statement. "Witch" and "Fate" foremost of them.

'I don't understand, if you know that your uncle is going to murder you why don't you go to the authorities? Why are you attempting to commit suicide?'

'You can't fight Fate, if she wants you dead, you'll die. I just wanted to go out in my own way. After all the crap she's put me through I reckoned I at leased earned that right.'

'I don't know how you know what Fate's intend is but I don't agree with your assessment. I firmly believe that we are in control of our own destinies and the bitch can do what ever she wants. But she will never be able to take it away from us.'

'No wonder she's so mad at you.' The girl laughed and then stared at him strangely her head tiled to one side as is listening at something. 'You the strangest person I've ever met, you know that.'

Harry almost laughed at that statement; it would not have been any funnier if Luna made the statement herself. 'Why is that?' Harry asked unsure how to respond.

'You're the poster boy for attempted suicide and yet you're here saving my life and convincing me to join you in your efforts to defy Fate.'

That was not the answer he was expecting. There was something more going on here than he was aware of.

'Don't feel so bad; I was doubly cursed with clairvoyance and empathy. That's how I know what she wants.' She answered while rubbing her shoulders; now that all the adrenalin was gone the cold was starting to get to her. Harry noticed that and subtly caste a wandless warming charm on the girl.

'It getting cold, do you mind coming with me to the place I'm staying?' Harry asked as he stood up.

'Why?' she asked looking up at him confused, ignoring his offered hand and getting up on her own.

'Well if you're supposed to be murdered tonight I can't let you go to your home, can I?'

'But why are you doing this? You don't even know my name. If you save me again _she_ will be really mad. _She_'ll make things really difficult for you.'

'For your information things are already as difficult as it can get. Anyway I love screwing up her plans, it's my mission in life to annoy her. Come on it getting late.'

'Okay, I'll go with you, but first I want to know the name of the person that is stupid enough to openly taunt Fate.'

'Oh forgive my bad manners, I tend to forget them when I jump in front of speeding trucks.'

The girl tried and failed to suppress a snort at Harry's lame attempt to humor.

Harry bowed down in a mock imitation of a pureblood greeting and said. 'Harry Potter at your service fair lady.'

'Oh crap, you really don't want to save me.' The girl said face suddenly pale as she stepped away from him.

Yet again that was not the response he was expecting, there was no _blimey_ or _bloody hell,_ no star struck eyes or hero-worshiping. Not that he wanted it. It's just the normal respond he was used to. No he only saw shame in the girls face.

'Why does my identity make any difference to the help I'm offering?'

'You don't understand, I'm Eleanor Black. My father is responsible for your parents' deaths.'

Harry was momentarily stunned; his brain could not process the information he had just received. Sirius never had a daughter that he knew of. '_What the hell was going on?'_

'Your telling me that your Sirius Black's daughter?'

'Yes. So you understand why you can't help me.'

'No, you just gave me every reason to help you; your father is a great man and my godfather. I just don't understand how it is possible that you are here.'

'What do you mean he's a great man? He's a no good mass murderer! He betrayed your parents to the Dark Lord.'

'He didn't, he's innocent.'

'Your telling me, after all the years of being rejected by my family, ridiculed for my evil dark father, being dumped with a vindictive squib because they did not want to come near the spawn of such an evil man. That my father is innocent? That my poor mother was right all along?' Eleanor asked almost hysterically.

'This is not the best place to talk about this, come with me and I'll explain everything to you.'

The black haired girl just nodded numbly and followed Harry with out registering where he was leading her.

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'My little dragon, I am most disappointed in you.'

Draco just stood his ground not showing any emotion on his face. He had learned from an early age not to show any weakness in front of his father.

'Did you really think I would not find out?'

The blond boy still did not respond, not knowing what of the countless things that he was hiding from his father, was found out. Lucius growing tired of his son's silences barked out a dark pain curse. Draco although in pain almost smiled, whatever he did wrong was not that bad or he would have been receiving the cruciatus curse. Now he knew it was safe enough to speak.

'Father I did not intend to displease you.'

'Do not let it happen again.'

Draco automatically answered, 'Yes father.' Although he had no clue what he did wrong. This was certainly not the best way to start his holidays. He was glad his father was so busy at the ministry.If he had to spend much more time with his father, he was not sure he would survive.

His father picked something up from a nearby counter and caressed it lovingly with an evil gleam in his eye.

'You will find a way to give this to Potter without him suspecting it is from you. Make sure he uses it. I don't care how you do it, but don't fail me.'

Draco just nodded, knowing better than to question his father.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Albus Dumbledore was one worried old wizard. Mrs Figg's reported back that the boy was not at his home, and that his relatives were not expecting him back until the end of the school year. Where could the boy possibly be? A warning tone and green flash announced that someone was coming through the floo.

'Ah Remus it's been too long since our last meeting.' The headmaster greeted, but the absence of the normal twinkle in his blue eyes, alerted the werewolf of the seriousness of the coming conversation.

'Headmaster.'

'We seem to have a problem. Yong Harry is not at his relatives, would it be possible for you to track him down?'

Remus almost stopped breathing. His cub was missing. His need to find the boy soon overrode his initial panic.

'Any idea where he could possibly be?' The wolf asked in a calm voice although he was not feeling that way at all. For years he had kept an eye on the son of his best friend. Always staying just far enough as to not effect the wards. As a dark being he could not dare to get any closer, the ministry would arrest him immediately. _You can't have the savior of the light consorting with werewolves_. The only place he could ever get near enough to see the boy was at his school. Luckily for the werewolf the school was too far from Privet Drive to be covered by the wards. Most people did not know of all the wards that were placed on the residential area of the boy-who-lived. Most of them had luckily faded by now because the boy was now aware of their world and did not need to be sheltered from other magic users like before.

'I don't know, maybe he is staying with a muggle friend. I have already asked his Hogwarts friends and he's not with any of them.' The Headmaster said.

'I should be easy enough to check out. I only ever saw him in the company of one girl; he did not have any other friends at that special school of his.'

'Oh,' the headmaster looked surprised. Harry was a very popular boy at school. Why weren't he that social in his muggle school? Also what did Remus mean he saw him at school, with all the wards on the area it should not have been possible to get that near. 'What do you mean special school, I thought he was I the same school as his cousin. We even warded the school for extra protection.'

The werewolf snorted. 'No wonder you lost the boy. Harry went to a special muggle school for intellectually gifted children. Not that poor excuse of an educational institution that you people warded.'

'_Well that explain why the boy spoke so grownup all the time.' _Dumbledore thought with relief. It sometimes really bothered the old headmaster. He was afraid that it was another abnormality as the result of something Voldemort did that fateful night. He knew the boy was intelligent but he had no idea that he was in a special school. He was also shocked at the danger the boy was in all these years and they did not even realize it. Anyone could have gotten to him at that school.

'Remus would this girl you saw him with perchance have bushy brown hair?' Dumbledore asked, storing his bewildered feelings for later and focusing on the problem at hand.

'How did you know that, I thought you did not know of his school?'

'Miss Granger is a Hogwarts student and a very close friend of Harry. I always wondered how they met because there were never any registered witches his age in the area. It never made sense to me. You have solved at least one mystery for me today. Hopefully you'll solve another and find him.'

'I'll try headmaster, but I don't know why you're this anxious. He'll be back after the winter break. Surely you don't check up on all your students like this?'

'You know this is different. I only want to make sure he is safe.'

'I know Albus; I'll do my best to find him. Just know that I don't appreciate the fact that after all these years I've been kept away from him, I'm suddenly good enough to play tracker.

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'Come on Ron, we can go flying after we had another look in the library.'

'I thought you only said we would look to get Hermione of my case?' Ron moaned.

'Among other things. But I really don't think it would hurt to look. Anyway, if we take a quick look everyday, we won't have to feel guilty when we have to meet up with her after the break.'

'I guess ten minutes a day won't kill me. But I refuse to spend a minute longer in that dreadful place.'

'Oh she will be so proud of you Ron.' Neville laughed as he ran to get away from his red haired friend.

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'Sit still young one, let me look.'

Harry sat on a bench in the dojo. His shoulder was killing him. After walking Eleanor there, he had to quickly explain the situation to his master. The girl was still in an almost unresponsive mode when they got there. Not really noticing what was going on around her. Harry knew it would be useless to talk to her like that. So he led her to his room and gave her a calming draught and dreamless sleep potion and told her to sleep a bit. She was so out of it she did not even argue with him about it.

He and Master Li would fix a room for her while she slept. But first Harry needed to pop his shoulder back into place.

'_No matter how many times this happen you never get used to the pain.' _Harry thought while gritting his teeth. _'At least it's not broken.'_

'Your shirt, remove it.' The old master said as he poked at Harry's shoulder making him gasp in pain.

'You're enjoying this too much.' Harry accused as he struggled to take off his shirt without hurting himself any more.

'Brave as it was, it was unwise to jump like that. Easier ways you know.' Master Li said as he went to a cabinet to get some healing ointment.

'I could not risk it; I had no idea she was a witch and others could have seen.'

The moment the old master looked at his young students back, he frowned.

'Where is our mark?' he asked.

'Harry waved his uninjured hand, dispelling the glamour he had used to hide it with since the school term began in September.

'Harry, I know you were uncertain of getting marked. It is mark of honor. Do not hide it, be proud. You worked hard for many years to get it. Embrace your calling. Show you defend the innocent.'

'I know what it represent master, but I don't think others will know the meaning. Children my age usually don't have body art.'

'No more hiding anymore.' The old man said closing the subject.

The conversation with his master distracted Harry momentarily from the pain and he did not realize what his master was about to do when he suddenly took hold of his shoulder and arm. With a quick practiced tug his shoulder popped into place. Harry did not even have time to shout out before it was all over. Relief wasted over the dark haired boy as his master rubbed the ointment into the injured shoulder.

'No more training tomorrow. We will fix room now, and then you will go to sleep.'

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Remus stood in front of the old house. He could see a lot of eastern influences. _'What on earth would Harry be doing in a place like this,'_ he wondered.

It was surprisingly easy to find this place. He simply wrote a letter to Harry and put a tracking charm on the letter. It led him directly to this location.

It was still very early in the morning and he hoped that he was not disturbing the inhabitants of this house unnecessarily. He took a final deep breath, preparing him self to finally meet the son of his best friend. With that he hesitantly knocked in the front door.

An old eastern man opened the door. He looked very kind, but the moment he saw Remus his face contorted with suspicion.

'Why have you come here? This place of light not of darkness.'

Remus was taken aback by this strange greeting. How could this man know of his affliction by only looking at him?

'I intend no harm here; I am a supporter of goodness.'

'Your struggle with the darkness is noble, though maybe unnecessary.'

Remus did not know how to respond to that, so he asked instead.

'Do you know a boy with the name Harry Potter, I'm looking for him.'

'My student did not mention visitors today.' The old man said suspiciously still not letting the werewolf inside.

'I was send by the Headmaster of his school to check up on the boy. He was worried when he did not return to his relatives.'

'My student let me to believe that he had permission to train with me this holiday. We will have words when he returns.' The old man answered with a frown. Then started to laugh. Harry never said that he asked his relatives it he could come; he said that they would not mind. _'How wonderfully devious, although not very honorable.'_

Remus was surprised when the old man suddenly started to laugh. 'Where is he at the moment?' he asked a bit unnerved by this strange old man. Although he was old, Remus was weary; he could sense the power that the man radiated. That really bothered him because there went suppose to be any wizards living in this area.

'He and the girl went for a run, although your darkness is clear no evil I sense. I will let you in and we can wait for them together.'

Again he was unsure how to respond so he just followed the man inside.

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'Come you can go faster El.' Harry encourage as he jogged besides his new friend.

It was two day after their strange meeting. After a lot of explaining on both parts, which took up almost the entire day, they became really close.

Eleanor explained how her mother found out she was pregnant shortly after her fiancé was arrested for the mass murder of thirteen muggles and the wizard Peter Pettigrew. He mother never believed in his guilt and defended him whenever she could. Her mother came from a fanatically light sided family and they could not condone the relationship between her mother and the dark wizard Sirius Black. Shortly after her birth her mother disappeared. Eleanor had no idea what happened to her. The little that she knew, she found out from her squib uncle. He was a bitter man. Mad at the world for not being a wizard, and even madder that he had to raise the magical child of a dark wizard.

Eleanor confessed that it was really hard for her to grow up with such a man. Not only did she have to endure every hurtful word he said about her mother and father, but also with her empathic abilities could she feel every hateful feeling he felt towards her.

She was also unable to go to Muggle School because she was literally overwhelmed with all the emotions and passed out when too many people was in the same room. She taught herself how to read and write by watching educational programs on TV when her uncle was away at work. She also sometimes snuck out to go to the library at times she knew there weren't a lot of people.

She also explained that with the strange and rare combination of abilities made her more perceptive and in tune with the universe and sometimes she could sense what Fate intended to let happen.

She was really scared of what would happen to her in the future because she knew that she was supposed to be dead. The fact that she was still alive was causing a ripple in the universe and she did not know what it meant. Somehow balance needed to be restored. She was scared of what that counter weight would be.

Harry reassured her that he would protect her. That things were not as bad as they looked right now. He told her a lot about his childhood, and how similar his uncle was to hers. That he understood some of her feelings, and that she was not alone. He also told her the true story about what happened to his parents and her father. He admitted that he sometimes also knew stuff that he was not suppose to know. That was part of the reason Fate was so mad at him. Because he was trying to change things.

He also suggested that she should try learning Occlumency. It would help her shield her mind so that others emotions would not overwhelm her. He told her that if she allowed Master Li to train her it would be easier to master the mind arts.

Luckily for them, there were no records of her existence with the muggle authorities, so she could easily stay with Master Li without any trouble.

Just as an extra precaution Harry snuck out the night after Eleanor's arrival. He went to her old house and planted the memory of her accidental death in the squib's mind.

At the moment they were running around the block to get her fit enough to start training in the arts. Master Li would also help her catch up on her missed education. They were both really grateful that the old man was willing to go through so much trouble to help them.

'Harry its way too early and cold to be so enthusiastic,' she gasped out of breath.

'Don't worry you'll get used to it, after a week or two it won't be this bad.'

'Easy for you to say you're running circles around me.'

'I've been doing this for years now; I was just as unfit when I started. Your not _that_ bad, my friend Neville had a much harder time the first time he joined me with my training. We're almost finished, just a little bit more.'

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Augusta Longbottomwas so proud of her grandson. Not only did he surprise them all by getting sorted into Gryffindor, he also made friends with the Potter boy. What surprised her even more was how self assured her once timid grandson was now. He was virtually shining confidence. From what she heard from her old friend Minerva, he was also one of the best students in his year. It was inconceivable that she thought he was a squib merely a year ago.

The surprises just did not seem to stop; she had noticed the two boys in the library every single day so far. It was almost unheard of for children to willingly spend time studying in their holidays. What were stranger though, were the morning runs they went on. Wizards almost never spend time on physical exercise. It was not necessary because their magic made up for the health issues muggle suffered from. All other activities that needed physical strength could easily solved with a wand, what else were levitation charms invented for. He boys just smiled at her when she asked about it and said that they did not want to suffer when school started. It was better to just keep up on it. Apparently their friend Harry asked them to do this with him. But the strangeness did not end there. After every run they would do strange stretching movements and then they would sit completely still for an hour. Not moving a muscle or saying a word, they just sat there. On a whole though she did not mind all the strange things, if this was the prize for the confident, skilled child she now had she welcomed it.

For the first time in her life she could see her Frank in the boy. It made her almost tear up thinking of her son. She wondered if Neville had told his friends about his parents. It was almost Christmas day and time for their annual hospital visit. She was a bit worried how Ron would react if he did not already know. She also did not want Neville to feel ashamed of his parents. She wanted him to be proud to them and the sacrifice they made. She would have to discuss it with him before an awkward situation occurred.

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'Master we're back!' a hyper Harry called out while an exhausted Eleanor glared at him. Although Harry was blocking his own emotions with Occlumency to help her be a bit more comfortable around him she could still feel traces of how happy he was and in her tired state it was exasperating her just a bit.

The old master walked into the room glancing at Harry. 'You have a visitor.'

'What, but?' Harry asked surprised, no one except his friends knew he was here for the holidays.

'Will discuss misinformation you spread later, now you go meet your guest.'

Harry went into the sitting room, Eleanor followed him, curious of whom the mystery visitor was that neither of them foresaw.

The moment Harry saw who it was, he froze, the images if the werewolf's last moments in his other life flashed unbidden in front of his eyes. For a brief moment Harry could not breathe. He was not supposed to meet him yet; there was still a year and a half before that was supposed to happen. Somewhere he screwed something up without even knowing it. Eleanor was right, Fate was looking for a way to taking out her vengeance on him. He was afraid to think what the implications were of this deviation.

His emotions of sadness, confusion and angst was overwhelming him and his shields could not hold it all in. Eleanor was instantly bombarded by his feelings. She gasped at all the pain and somehow saw some of the images that flashed through her friends mind.

'Oh Harry,' she said in a teary voice. 'This must not happen; we must not let _her_ have her way.'

Eleanor's anguish snapped Harry out of his shock he turned to his friend and nodded. 'Sorry about that, but you understand now why I fight her?'

The girl nodded and gave Harry a hug. That greatly surprised him. She generally avoided any form of physical contact because it enhanced the intensity of the emotions she was feeling.

Remus observed this exchange with puzzlement. Although after his meeting with Master Li, it did not seem that weird, few things had made sense since he knocked on the door.

As Harry turned around again he was amazed how much the boy looked like his father. He also sensed an unmistakable aura of power. At the same time as he was taking all that in, his werewolf senses were also setting of alarm bells. For some strange reason he smelled Padfoot. But he knew that was not possible because he was still in Azkaban.

'Hallo Harry, my name is Remus Lupin.' The wolf greeted awkwardly not really knowing how things would go. He had dreamt of meeting this boy for a very long time, and now it was finally happening, and he did not have a clue what to do.

'Hi,' Harry greeted, the unexpected meeting had totally balled him over. Is emotions was still a mess of warring feelings were interfering with his thinking process.

Luckily, Remus just took his actions as him being shy when meeting new people. In actual fact Harry really wanted to run over to him and give him the biggest hug ever. Unfortunately he knew he could not do that.

'I was a friend of your father and it's great to finally meet you.' Remus said to move past the awkward moment. To his surprise it was not Harry that reacted with the surprise he had expected, but the black haired girl. She gasped and then tried to step out of the room. Harry however would not have it and motioned for her to stay.

'You have every right to also get to know Mooney.' Harry whispered to her softly, unaware that Remus could hear him because of the enhanced werewolf hearing. Eleanor just nodded unsure if it was wise to stay.

Seeing that he was not going to get any further reaction, Remus tried again, this time addressing the girl.

'So are you one of Harry's Hogwarts friends?' he asked friendly.

She shook her head not ready to become part of the conversation but the friendly emotions that he was broadcasting put her more at ease.

'No, Eleanor will hopefully be going there next year.' Harry answered for the girl. The girl looked at Harry with shock.

'You know that's not possible.' She whispered to him sadly.

'Yes it is. You just have to master Occlumency before you go.' Harry whispered back before turning to the werewolf.

'So, why did you come here?' Harry asked, this was not the way he planned things to happen. The meeting was comparable to a train wreck.

'Professor Dumbledore was a bit worried about you so he asked me to check up on you. Seeing that I wanted to meet you for a very long time, I did not mind helping.'

Harry started to laugh Dumbledore could not even leave him alone for a few weeks. So much for their new found trust. On another level it was slightly comforting. He knew the old man really cared, although, he was overprotective.

'It's really great to meet you Mr. Lupin and we would really like to get to know our fathers' friend better. But do me a flavor and tell the headmaster you were unable to find me. Call it a prank if you will. I just really get mad at him when he tries to smother me.'

It took a moment to register all that was said. It was clear that Harry and the headmaster did not have the best of relationships. What puzzled him was the first comment. None of his other friends ever had children.

'Do I know your parents?' he asked the black haired girl. The girl nodded again, still not speaking.

Eleanor was afraid of the emotional reaction she would feel when she revealed her identity. Harry sensed that and slowly reached out his hand. 'Trust me.' He mouthed.

Harry did not know if it would work, but he thought it was worth a try. He reached out and used his own magic to shield her. It weakened his mind shields a bit, but as he was not expecting an attack, it was not such a big risk.

Eleanor looked at Harry with surprise clear on her face. For the first time in her life the feelings of others weren't intruding in her mind. Harry smiled at her and then answered Remus.

'Eleanor is Sirius' daughter.'

The werewolf was totally in shock, no wonder he smelled his old friend. He did not know how to react to the girl. He was also confused about how Harry even knew about Sirius and how he met his daughter. A daughter no one even knew existed. He knew he could not condemn the girl for her father's actions. This day was only getting stranger and stranger.

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After a long conversation with his grandmother Neville told Ron everything about his parents. Ron took the news surprisingly well and did not make Neville feel awkward about it. He told his friend that his parents would be proud of him, and that he would be really honored to go and visit them with him today.

In another part of the country, a messy black-haired boy with tears in his eyes, was hugging a handmade jumper he had just opened.

Harry had received a lot more gifts this time round. The extra ones were from Neville, Remus and Mrs. De Villiers. Eleanor made him a card. Master Li also gave him a gift, even though he did not celebrate Christmas.

It was really strange how things worked out. Remus came to visit them almost every day and he now felt that he knew him better than the first time. There were now barriers there because he was his teacher this time. No, he was just uncle Moony.

He also did not go back to the headmaster. Harry suspected that the wolf was also a bit mad with the headmaster. He did not know why that was, but he was glad that it helped him gain some freedom from the old man.

Master Li was also a lot friendlier with Remus after Harry explained about lycanthropy. The old master could see the darkness of the cures in the man's aura bit did not understand it.

With the new knowledge of the magical world things he could never understand about his aura reading ability was becoming clearer for the master.

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On the Hogwarts express while Harry was waiting for his friends, he looked back on the holidays with a smile. So many wonderful yet totally unexpected things had happened. The best was probably his meeting with Eleanor.

He now, more than ever, needed to figure out a way the teach Occlumency to children. It would be very unfair if she could not come to Hogwarts because of emotional overload.

His visit to his old teacher Mrs. De Villiers gave him an idea for a temporary solution, but it was not effective enough. She helped Harry make a protection amulet designed specifically to help Eleanor block out others emotions. It was not as strong as they would have liked, but it was better than nothing. It helped to relieve some of the strain she was under constantly. Harry knew it was crucial that he helps his friend, she could easily go insane if a solution was not found soon.

He reckoned the only reason she was not insane yet, was because her uncle kept her hidden and sheltered all her life. True, he was a right bastard, but at least she was not overwhelmed with too many other people's feelings. She only had to deal with him. Not that it was easy, just more manageable.

Harry wondered if his friends had figured out who Nicolas Flamel was. It was amusing to watch their efforts, but he also remembered his other life, when it was he who was doing all the searching. Harry was really tempted to buy his friends a box of chocolate frogs to see if they would figure it out with that clue. Only time would tell what would happen in the next term.

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I'm not sure if I like this chapter. It came out totally different than I originally planed. Eleanor sort of wrote herself. She was not supposed to have the powers she now have and she definitely had a different personality in my planning. Now I'll have to reconsider all my plans I had for her. She just refused to be what I wanted her to be.lol

As you can see this is a major divergence form the original time line. Poor Harry has no idea what this change will cause…

Thanks for all the reviews.

im to lazy to write i story, Kage of the village hidden ..., Innortal ,pottersparky, Morbious20, The French Dark Lord,venusserenade, Weasel Debater, Turnlach, Feneris the Elf, jabarber69, Aria Dragoncrest, ValorOrgulloso,EriEka127, kehlencrow, Red Son, stealacandy,doRodrigo, anaknisatanas, hpnut1, KikiLala, Kortir, Annabel-lurvs-purple, PSTurner, jayley, Silver Sparklze, GinnyLover14, MrPowell, SongoftheDarquePhoenix, Moony's Metamorphmagus, Sylkie, lillypop, tlfsjs, Adm. Bones, Silver Warrior,

See you soon. (Hopefully)

Amberile


	15. Flamel and more confrontations

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Finally the next chapter. My computer crashed and I did not have access for almost three weeks. I think I am suffering from computer withdrawal. Lol.

Big thanks _**Weasel Debater **_my beta

**Chapter 14 Flamel and more confrontations**

Harry was glad to be back at the castle. Although he enjoyed his holiday, Hogwarts just had something that always called him back. As he ate his dinner, he looked up at the head table. He was surprised that the head master did not confront him about his holiday activities the moment he got back. Harry guessed that the old head was opting for a "surprise attack", Hoping he would let his guard down and then get the information when Harry least expected it. Harry smiled at that thought; he never relaxed enough to let that happen. Living in a war for so long honed his instincts that it was second nature to him to be on his guard.

Around him, his friends were happily sharing their holiday stories. Hermione was disappointed that Ron and Neville did not find anything in the Longbottom library. However, she was very pleased that the two boys put so much effort into it.

Harry decided to stop pondering the devious plots of the headmaster and join in the fun. He told them about his new friend Eleanor and some of the fun they had. Harry did not tell them how he met her; he felt it was a private matter. Hermione was thrilled that this new friend was magical. Finally there was a girl could join the group. Ron just laughed at his bookish friend.

Neville was interested to hear that she was also a seer.

Ron being as ever Harry's tormentor did not take long in teasing Harry about his new girlfriend. He jokingly threatened that he would write Ginny and tell her he was cheating on her.

Harry just laughed it off saying that he was not dating any one and so he could not possibly be cheating. But unbeknownst to his red haired friend the comment really hurt. He really missed his Ginny and even thought he was writing to this Ginny, hoping that someday something would happen between them, he sometimes felt that he was cheating on the women he loved in his other life. He just shook his head at his own stupidity.

As they left the hall, Wood caught up with him and gave him the next term's Quidditch practice schedule. As Harry looked at it he wondered how he ever past first year in his other live. There was barely enough time to finish homework never mind studying. The bigger question was how Oliver passed his Owl's. His obsession with the game had to be unhealthy. Luckily, he already knew all the work so he would have no problem keeping up. He was a bit annoyed though that it would interfere with his training schedule of his friends and his independent research. He would have to think of a tactful way to reduce practice time. That was a mission, an almost impossible mission.

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It was only the third day of term and it was already in full swing. His friends had developed the habit of skimming through books every time they had a spare minute. Ron the ever-lazy one kept trying to convince Harry to just tell them. Harry said it would be a misuse of his "gift" if he told them. Eventually he said they were destined to find it on their own and that he was not allowed by fate to tell them. He felt bad for telling his friend this load of bullshit, after all his opinion of fate was anything but good. That was definitely not suitable for his friend's young ears. He rationalised that it was a necessary evil to preserve his own sanity. Harry really could not remember that Ron was that annoying, then again he was probably just like him at that age in his other life.

Strangely enough Dumbledore had still not confronted him and he was starting to get the familiar feeling of paranoia. Harry was starting to look forward to their first appointment with the head on Friday, just that he could get it over with and get on with his life. He looked at his watch and saw it was almost time to go down to breakfast. He was waiting for his friends in the common room. Hermione had already left she wanted to quickly get a book from the library before class start.

Four boys came bouncing down the stares. Ron and Dean were once again arguing about soccer and Quidditch. Neville and Seamus just shook their heads as the walked down to he hall.

'Harry mate,' Seamus said as they almost reached their destination. 'When did you get that cool tattoo?'

'Oh, you notice it?' Harry answered with a smile; he wondered how long it would take his roommates too asked about it. 'I was branded with the mark just before I came to Hogwarts. Let me tell you the ceremony hurt like hell.'

'But I did not notice it before now.' Dean said, abandoning his discussion with Ron for more interesting news.

'Yeah, I covered it with a glamour charm until now. My master did not like it though; he said I should display it proudly.'

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Up in the headmaster's office sat on worried headmaster. After Harry asked him to stop following him, he had devised another way to keep tabs on his young charge. He placed listening charms in the first year's favourite haunts. He also enlisted the portraits to report on the boy and his friends' actions. As a final precaution, he charmed a small snitch with listening and invisibility charms. He could not risk using it too often. The boy was very bright and could possibly find it, but for now, it was his best way to get information. Today was the first time test flight of his little spying device. He was very busy this holiday with all the charm work he had to do to keep track of the boy. Through his efforts, he was determined to save the boy from darkness.

What he now heard was shocking and very worrying indeed. Was it possible that all his efforts were in vain that the boy was already under the control of the Dark lord? That he was already a death eater at the tender age of eleven? It could just not be true! Then again, it would explain his knowledge of the Dark Arts. For a long time, the similarities between the boy and Voldemort had been bothering him. Was it possible that Harry was so alike to the evil wizard because the dark wizard himself trained him? Dumbledore hoped with all his heart that it was not true. If it was then the wizarding world was doomed.

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Just like the previous time the news that their "favourite" Potions Master would be refereeing their next match was greeted with trepidation. Wood almost had a fit and he wanted to double their practise time. Harry could not figure out how the boy planned to achieve that. There weren't enough hours in the day. Katie had to take the poor Quidditch fanatic up the hospital wing to get a calming draught.

Harry wondered what had changed in this time line that Oliver reacted to the news so badly. It was small things like this that made him worry.

Harry's friends were also concerned with the news. They were worried that Harry would be the professor's next victim. After all, he almost murdered their defence teacher. Everyone knew the man hated Harry. Ron even suggested that Harry should injure himself to get out of the game.

Harry reassured his friends that he would be all right. He would make sure that he wore his protection amulet during the game. Hermione seemed to be comforted by that. She had finished making amulets for all of them during the holiday. The group almost never took them off. It was just one of those little things that bound them close together.

At that moment, Neville strolled into the common room with a huge smile on his face.

'Whose cream did you steal?' Harry asked his grinning friend.

'Malfoy,' Neville answered. 'He and his goons thought I was an easy target with out you guys to protect me.'

Harry frowned and Ron muttered some choice words earning a scowl from Hermione. Neville just smiled again and continued to tell them what happened.

'The stupid snake and his girlfriends reckoned I was simply a squib hiding behind my famous friend. He tried to hit me with a Leg-Locker but I was too quick for him and disarmed him. Then I put all of them in body binds and left them.'

'Are you sure that was wise, you could get into trouble for it.' Hermione asked worriedly.

'That's the best part of it all! I went to McGonagall and told her everything and gave her the idiots' wands. She said I handled it correctly although she did not approve of me leaving them like that. Anyway, she gave me twenty points for bravery and good spell work. You should have seen the snakes faces when she unfroze them and gave them detention.'

Harry felt around in his pockets and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, he passed it over to Neville. 'Nice one Mate!'

'Yeah, that was bloody brilliant!' Ron added.

Neville ate the frog and looked at the card. He froze for a second, just starring at it with disbelief. 'I found him,' he said in a small voice.

Ron got up to see what Neville got thinking he found a rare one.

'Nev, it's just Dumbledore, I have a lot of him. What is the big deal?'

'Look, Flamel. I found him.' Hermione took the card reading it aloud. She gave an excited look at Harry and then jumped up to get something.

Harry smiled at his friends. 'I told you, you would find it in a unique way and that all the library time was unnecessary.'

Ron just punched Harry on the shoulder. 'You still could have told us, you know.'

Hermione came back down the stairs with a humongous book in her arms. After a bit of paging she found what she was looking for. 'Oh Harry really your tip is soooo lame. Think old not new, really.'

Harry just laughed at his bushy haired friend.

'Hey, let us in on it. The suspense is killing me.' Ron said.

Hermione once again read the text out loud. Neville could not believe what they had found out. Ron just wish could get his hands on a stone, and then he could buy his hearts desire, a Quidditch pitch and team. Hermione were more interested in the theory behind the creation of the stone. Harry just wished he could destroy the damn thing and get it over with. He did not need any money and his life was already twice as long as he expected it to be.

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Finally Friday came and the anticipated appointment with the headmaster. Harry practically ran out of the potions class up the gargoyle entrance of the head office. He again just waved his hand and entered, making sure that he did not trip any of Dumbledore's warning wards. Harry had a lot of fun surprising the old man. It had become somewhat a game of his. Dumbledore played along by constantly changing the wards to make it more difficult. If this game kept on like this, this office would be the most heavily warded office in the world that does not use lethal curses.

As Harry got to the door, he heard the headmaster having conversation with the portraits.

'I don't know what to do, I have a meeting with him in a few minutes and I still have not figured out how to handle him.'

'Albus he is just a child you are spending too much time on the whelp.'

'Phineas it is not so simple, the fate of the wizarding world rest on his shoulders. If he has indeed been marked then all my efforts to keep him on the light will have been in vain. I don't know if I could handle it if I lost him to the darkness.'

'Surely he is too young to make such a decision; there must be some hope yet.' Harry heard a women he did not recognise say. He could not believe what he was hearing.

'_Where the hell did Dumbledore get that idea?'_

'Once the Voldemort marks someone as his own he does not let them go ever. He would rather kill them than tolerate a disloyal servant. I am afraid that the poor boy does not have any idea in how grave a situation he is in. I am afraid the darkness has a strong hold on him.'

Harry could not take hearing any more of this. He burst into the office, forgetting that he was supposed to be only eleven. 'Albus you great Fool! Where the hell did you get that stupid idea? I can't believe you think that of me after all the time we have spent together and all the talks about trust we had.'

Dumbledore was extremely shocked to have his student burst into his office and scream at him. Luckily he had years of experience at keeping his pose

'Harry, I see your early for out meeting how have your holiday been?'

Harry nearly exploded again. He got so mad when the old man danced around issues. He took a deep breath, strengthened his mental shields and recomposed himself again.

'I had a really enjoyable time, thank you for asking.' Harry answered sweetly.

'So your family is in good health.'

'I think so… unfortunately.'

Dumbledore grimaced at that comment. The boy was an expert at word play. He did not lie, as far as he knew his family was fine. The sentiment that went with the comment was also unfortunately truthful. The boy really did not like his family.

'Did you have any unexpected visitors?' Dumbledore asked in the hope that the boy would let slip that Remus found him. He did not know why the old wolf would lie to him but he just had the feeling that the wolf was not completely honest with him when he eventually reported back to him. Since then the wolf had moved to a different house and broke contact with the wizarding world. That in it self was also something to worry about.

'Now that you mention it, I did have a fun encounter with a _black_ witch.' Harry answered mockingly, still mad at the old man and not feeling charitable with his information.

This comment really puzzled the old wizard. If the boy was indeed mad at him for thinking he was dark then why admit meeting a dark witch. He could sense the statement was true but it just did not make sense.

Harry could practically feel the headmaster's confusion and started to laugh.

'Get it into your head, I. Am. Not. Evil! Nor will I ever be evil. Lord Voldy did not mark me and I do not plan in ever doing something so absolutely stupid. I just got a tattoo, a normal muggle tattoo. It is on my shoulder not my bleeding forearm. I may be a child but I am not a moron!'

The relief on the old man's face was almost comical.

'I still don't get how you could think the dark idiot could mark me; he doesn't even have a body.'

Dumbledore was again baffled at how much knowledge Harry had about Voldemort. Where could he have found out were the dark mark was in death eaters? He also knew that Voldemort Was Alive but bodiless. He would have to yet again think about everything he knew about the boy.

'I am sorry my boy, I am only concerned for you. I only worry about your well being.'

'I know that, and appreciate it, headmaster. It would just be easier for the both of us if you stop trying to save me. I can take care of myself. I have been doing it all my life and so far I think I have done a descent job.'

Dumbledore just smiled at Harry, his eyes extra twinkley. He offered Harry some tea, signifying that their argument was over but that Harry was still required to stay for their usual chess game. Harry walked over to Fawks' perch, to get rid of his last bit of frustration while the headmaster conjured the tea set. As he stroked the bird's bright plumage, he looked around the office. For the first time he noticed I huge object cowered with a white sheet. Dumbledore noticed his curiosity.

'It is a little project I have been working in this holiday. You can have a look if you like. I am actually interested in what you see.'

Harry carefully walked over to the object and pulled the sheet down. When he saw what it was, he stepped away from it as if it had burned it.

'What is the matter Harry, you have not even looked at it.' Dumbledore asked perplexed.

'I have no desire to look into the mirror. I know what I will see.' Harry answered while he was moving to the door; he had no desire to stay in the same room as the mirror. He was afraid he would see all of his dead friends and family. He did not think he could handle seeing that. He was also afraid of seeing himself as a murderer. Because that was his biggest desire in this world, to get rid of Voldemort before he could kill his friends.

'So you know what it does?' he asked surprised that the boy knew so much.

'Yes, I know.'

'Then what do you think you'll see?' Dumbledore asked almost afraid of the answer. Harry was almost as pale as a ghost and almost out of the door. It was clear that he would be gone in a minute.

'Death… Death and destruction.' Harry answered and then bolted down the stairs.

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Draco sat on his bed staring into space. He was again thinking of a way to give his "gift" to Harry with out him suspecting it was dangerous. Draco had been observing the dream team this week and he immediately discounted owling it to Harry. He never noticed how paranoid the young Gryffindor was. The boy would check anything before he ate it. He scanned all his mail before opening it. He never sat with his back to a door. He almost always had one or two of his friends with him. It seems like they almost never goes anywhere alone. When he found the stupid Longbottom boy alone he attacked him out of sheer frustration. Unfortunately, that did not work out as planed. Now he had a detention and his father already send him a letter to let him know how very disappointed he was in him for losing to a squib and being caught.

Know thy enemy. That was what his father always taught him. Well it would seem that there was more to Harry Potter than what met the eye. He really was not as arrogant as he was at first, though he still was. Then again, he did humiliate him the first day on the train and in that duel. He would just have to keep up his spying for know and figure out how to get the parcel to him with out suspicion. He knew he could not go home if he failed in this task. His father would be brutal.

What bothered him the most was that he could not figure out what the thing was supposed to do? How could such an ordinary, small thing harm his nemesis? He would just have to follow his father's instructions.

Harry's day would come. He would make sure of it.

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'Moony, master Li needs your help with moving the saplings.' Eleanor said as she finished her launch.

Since her weird meeting with Harry, things were going great for her. She had a home with friendly people. They allowed her to go outside and play not hide away like her uncle used to make her. Master Li was also teaching her Martial arts and helping her with her meditation. It really helped her to clear mind. She did not get bad headaches anymore and she generally felt better. She never realised what a huge impact her uncle's depressed mood had on her. Her best day so far this week was when Moony moved in with then. He used to visit her almost every day until master Li confronted him about it. Asking him if he did not have other obligations he should attend to. The old master was shocked to learn that wizarding law made it almost impossible to find a job for werewolves. He also explained how muggles did not understand his "health" problems.

Master Li offered him a job as a gardener. He said he was getting to old to move the heavy pots on his own. It would also be beneficial for Eleanor because he could tutor her. Master Li said he could teach her basic literacy but he knew nothing of what the wizarding world would expect a witch to know.

Remus was very eager to accept this offer. It was a secure job and he could do what he loved: teaching. He never thought he could ever get along with anybody related to his traitorous friend. Yet he found that he really liked the girl and did not mind helping and teaching her. Master Li was also an interesting person. Remus hardly understood half of the thing the man said but he knew the old man had more substance that it would seem. He had wisdom that Remus felt rivalled Dumbledore and skills that almost looked magical.

After the offer was made the werewolf simply packed all his stuff and came. He had nothing to keep him back.

An added benefit of the arrangement was that Remus could ward the house. Eleanor was safe from discovery and Dumbledore would be unable to track Harry if he came to visit again.

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'_Death… Death and destruction. How could that be the innermost desire of a child?' _Dumbledore wished that for once he knew what was going on with Harry Potter. The boy was incredibly smart, a wonderful leader and according to the other teachers a sweet caring boy. How was it possible that that same child that helped his fellow students so much could also have such a violent dark side? He sometimes wondered if the boy did not suffer from some kind of multiple personality disorder. Because only five minutes before he uttered this worrisome desire he claimed that he would never become dark. Maybe he should listen to Minerva and poppy and send the boy for counselling. Until now, he had discounted their advice, feeling it would be unwise to get outside people involved. It would seem that just maybe it would be better for the boy if he gave in this one time. He would contact one of his friends that worked at St Mungo's and asked if she would help him of the record. It would not do for the wizarding world to find out that their boy savoir needed mental help. Not for the first time he wondered how much damage Voldemort did to the boy on that fateful Halloween night.

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It was a dark, wet and smelly. She had gotten lost on he way back to the Gryffindore common room. This was not the first time she got lost. Hogwarts was a huge and ancient castle with a lot of magic. She usually did not mind these divergences of plans. She had discovered a lot of interesting and fun places on her little excursions and explorations. However it was getting late, she was tired and hungry, and it was so very cold down here. She did not know how to get back to the more familiar parts of the castle. She just followed along the narrow corridor hoping it would eventually lead her out of this dank lonely place. Then she saw it. It was gigantic with huge fangs. Its deadly eyes staring at her.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After the meeting with Dumbledore Harry once again suffered form terrible nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes, he would hear the prophecy spelling out his doom. Interwoven with this were all of his dead friends and comrades. They lifeless eyes staring at him, accusing him of failure. Eleanor's words echoing in the distance. _You can't fight fate. You can't fight fate._ By the third day, Harry gave up on sleep entirely and stayed away that night. He was actually grateful for the tough Quidditch schedule Wood forced on them. It kept him too occupied to think about it during the day. By the fourth day, Harry was a walking zombie. He was desperate enough for a good night's sleep that he was contemplating taking a sleeping potion. He did not know why he was so upset about the whole mirror thing. After all, he had known he would have to kill Voldemort for years now. He had killed a number of death eaters in his other live. Why would it all of a sudden bother him again? Maybe the mirror triggered unresolved feelings that he was not even aware of.

On Tuesday, McGonagall cornered him. She was very concerned about him and wanted to know what the matter was. She forced him to have lunch with her in her office. Harry felt strangely better after their conversation. He wondered why he never had such a close relationship with his head of house in his first life. He was starting to depend and trust her more and more as the year went by. It really meant a lot to him that she cared so much for him and about his problems. He was amazed at how patient she was. Because he rarely told her anything but she was always available.

After his talk with the transfiguration teacher things almost returned too normal. The trained and studied with his friends as usual and went to Quidditch practice in the evenings. Before he knew, it was the next Quidditch game. Harry remembered how anxious he felt the first time round. Now he was not worried at all. He was confident in his skills and knew Snape could not really do anything except award a few unfair penalties.

In an eye blink, the game was over yet again and he caught his prize in record time. Harry felt a bit uncomfortable when Dumbledore came up to him to congratulate him. He knew that the head almost never came to matches and that he only came to this one as a security measure. Harry also hate that he was receiving favouritism from his Head.

Harry and his friends stayed behind for a bit. Letting the rowdy crowd, which wanted to carry him up all the way to the tower, enter the castle. As they walked to the shed to store his broom Ron could not stop gloating that they were in the lead despite of Snape's efforts.

'Speaking of Snape, guys. Why is he going into the forest? Hermione asked.

'Don't know, let's follow him and find out.' Ron suggested.

'Are you crazy?'

'Come on Hermione lets find out what's going on.' Neville said also curious and a lot braver with his friends at his side.

They followed him 'till he got to a clearing. There they hid in the bushes. Harry had cast disillusionment and silencing charms on them just to be on the safe side.

Quirrell was also in the clearing, stuttering worse tan ever.

Harry groaned almost aloud when he realise what they were about to witness.

'... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus...'

'Oh, I thought we'd keep this private,' said Snape, his voice icy.

'Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all.'

They leaned forward to hear better. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

'Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?'

'B-b-but Severus, I –'

'You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell,' said Snape, taking a step toward him.

'I-I don't know what you…'

'You know perfectly well what I mean.'

An owl hooted loudly, and Hermione gave a little shriek. Harry was extremely grateful that he had the fore thought to put up wards. When every one was calm again they heard Snape say, '-- your little bit of hocus-pocus.

I'm waiting.'

'B-but I d-d-don't –'

'Very well,' Snape cut in. 'We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie.'

The friends had to make a quick retreat when they saw the man throw his cloak over his head and stride out of the clearing in their direction.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

'What do you recon that was all about?' Neville asked when they go back to the castle locking themselves into a deserted class room and warding it against outside listening they knew the common room would be a madhouse and Harry as the star of the hour would not get any alone time with his friends to talk about what they just saw.

'Well obviously we were right, about the Sorcerer's Stone. I think Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it.' Hermione said. 'I think what happened at the previous Quidditch game was a way to threaten and intimidate the poor man. He asked if he knew how to get past

Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus-- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through –'

'So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?' asked Neville in alarm.

'It'll be gone by next Tuesday,' said Ron.

Harry wanted to scream aloud as the scene played it self out in front of him. He could not believe that his friends thought Quirrell was the poor victim. Then again, he had made the same mistake the first time round. It would seem that the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Yay I actually manage to finish a chapter despite a broken computer. Hope you liked it. Not my best, but I wrote this in a day. I did not want you to wait any longer.

Sorry if I did not answer your reviews, I did not have web access. Will try to answer all of them this time now that everything's been fixed.

I am looking for someone to be my secondary beta. If you are willing please let me know. Would really appreciate the help.

As jy Aardklop toe gaan sien ek jou daar!

Afrikaans bo!!!

Lots of thanks for the reviews:

Luna Moonlight Fawn; irishhokeykid; mare12a; litlittledragon; sumguy52; Bel e Muir; thejealousone; The French Dark Lord; Phantom of Dragons; PV10; Alorkin; kehlencrow; Satsukifujin; kelmo; AiSard; oceanblue2; anaknisatanas; swanpride; chazza; gymfreak07; Deathzealot; Aria Dragoncrest; doRodrigo; dolphingirl79; GinnyLover14; PSTurner; Ookii Mamoru; FFML Tim; Bobboky; Silver Warrior; Pagan ThunderGod; Sylkie; Hodemi; Twin Tails Speed; EriEka127; hpnut1; Innortal; magiquill9; Ice's Shadow; MrPowell; Therio; HidingInACorner; dave-gerecke; qtar1984; hentai18ancilla; Weasel Debater; harryginny01; rekahneko; jayley; pottersparky

Until next time. Remember to review.

Amberile B-)


	16. Of snakes, a spy and a dragon

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Another chapter done, I had a bit of writers block. My mind was on tests, assignments, and my postgraduate application. Now that everything's done (yay), I can breathe again and concentrate on fun stuff like writing.

Thanks again to my wonderful betas, _**Weasel Debater **__& __**MrPowell **_

**Chapter 15 Of snakes, a spy and a dragon**

It was late at night and Harry was sitting in the windowsill of his Gryffindor dorm. He had once again had a nightmare that interrupted his sleep. Unable to sleep again and not feeling any urge to study or read up on advance magic he just sat and contemplate everything that had happened since the Christmas holiday.

The first week back Amberile disappeared. That in it self was not too unusual but she usually only stayed away for a short while. But after a week, when he was just starting to get a little worried, the snake reappeared, enthusiastically telling him about her new friend. She had spent the whole time getting to know her in her secret home beneath the castle.

OoOoOoO

'I am so glad to see you again, I missed you.'

'Ooh so nice to know I'm loved and appreciated. Zally said you would forget about me if I stayed away for this long. She would not believe me when I told her you cared about me.' The snake hissed in a smug way.

'Who is Zally?' Harry hissed back curiously.

'She's my new friend. She found me when I got lost in the dungeons.'

Harry nodded and the little snake continued.

'She doesn't like wizards very much. She has a bit of an abandonment issue.'

'How so?' Harry asked perplexed, not thinking that a snake could have any such issues.

'Apparently she had a master that she really liked a lot. He used to talk with her all the time and said she was his familiar. I don't know what that means.'

'I'll explain it to you later.' Harry hissed gesturing for his little friend to continue with her story.

'Anyway she said he started to act strangely and doing nasty things to his friends. Apparently, her master and his best friend had a huge argument that ended in a duel. She told me that after her master lost he took her down to the room that she now stays in. She is not exactly sure what happened after that. She thins he cast some enchantments on her. The next thing she remembers is being woken up by a nasty boy about fifty years ago.'

Harry drew in a quick breath as the implications struck about what Amberile were talking about. He remained silent and listened as his scaly friend continued her story.

'She said she really did not like the boy, but he forced her to do really bad things. He said he was her new master and that she must obey all his orders. Then after everything she did for him he just locked her in the room again and left her.' Amberile hissed with indignation.

'She warned me about wizards and when I told her about you she said you would just use me and then abandon me when you got tired of me.'

'I would never do that to you. You are my friend, not my pet or servant. You can stay with me as long as you like.'

'I know that, you rescued me from that bad place. I argued with her that you were different but she did not believe me. She said I should stay with her for a while and see if you for get about me. I'm really glad you didn't.' the snake smiled. Harry did not know it was even possible for a snake to smile. He was glad his friend was happy. However, at the same time he was wondering what he should do about Amberile's new friend. The little snake would be really angry with him if he went down to the chamber of secrets and killed her new friend. Could he leave a fifty-foot basilisk in a school?

'_I will have to go down there and talk to Zally, hopefully she wont kill me in the process.'_

'Would she mind if I go down there to talk to her?'

'I don't know. She really does not like wizards much. I will talk to her and convince her that you are nice. It will take a while I think. Better, not rush her. She is a bit of a drama queen. You should have heard her when she told me all this. She sounded like a teenage girl that was dumped by her first boy friend. Not dignified at all.'

Harry just grinned at her.

'I think I like being an independent snake. I will never act like that. I told her that she does not have to obey anyone she can make her own choices.'

Harry nodded again, glad that his friend enjoyed her independence.

The little snake suddenly got an "evil" grin. 'If you ever treat me like that I just have to bite you.'

Harry laughed aloud at that. 'Don't worry, I won't. Anyway, I have an anti-serum for your venom so I will not die.

'Watch it, I might just bite you for your insolence and test how effective your potion is. I'll let you know I'm proud of my poison.'

Harry tried really hard to suppress his laughter but he could not manage it and burst out laughing again.

OoOoOoO

Another thing that happened after break was Harry's meeting with Perenelle a mind healer from St Mungo's.

Harry went up the spiral stairs to the headmaster office for his second meeting after the holiday break. He smiled as he circumvented two new wards that the headmaster had installed. Harry was a bit apprehensive about meeting him after his abrupt exit the previous meeting. Who knew what plans and wrong assumptions the old man had made after that. Harry could have kicked himself for not being more tactful. He was also sure that McGonagall reported to the headmaster about their little talk. Harry knew she would never disclose what was said, but she would inform the old headmaster that a discussion was necessary.

He froze in the entrance when he realise the office was not empty as he expected it to be.

'I'm sorry; I'll just wait outside till you're finished.' Harry said a bit embarrassed that he walked into a meeting of the headmaster. This was the first time that someone was with the headmaster while he made his surprise entrance.

'No Harry, it's okay. This is my good friend Perenelle she is a mind healer and I was wondering if you would be willing to talk with her a bit?'

Harry was seeing red, he could not believe the old man. _'What is this man thinking!_'

Harry balled his fists and clenched his teeth. He could however not keep his anger in.

'I can't believe you. There is nothing wrong with me. Stop trying to fix me! I am not broken! Nor am I possessed with evil. My biggest problem at the moment is your constant meddling.'

'Harry…' Dumbledore tried but was interrupted by the angry boy.

'What do you want from me? Do you expect to be happy and tell you how crap my childhood was so you can psychoanalyze me and be content that you made an effort to save me. I know how psychology works. God knows I read every book on it in the muggle library.'

'Harry…'

'I am not some _unbalanced_ kid that can be _fixed_ with silly little talks. Were did you get this bright idea from. What give you the right to arrange for this with out my approval? I'm leaving.' Harry said as he turned around and headed to the door.

'Harry…'

'Hush Albus, I see you have put it in it again. Let me go after the boy. I honestly can't believe you were so thoughtless to not consult or at the least inform him first.' The healer said before she briskly exited the office to follow the upset boy.

She found the boy pacing by the lake. She also noticed that the water was unsettled. Small waves were hitting the shoreline even though there was no wind to cause it. She was surprised to realise just how powerful the young boy in front of her was. She knew however, it would not do to focus on it now. She had something more important to do.

'I am sorry about this Harry,' she said when he noticed her. 'Your headmaster has a tendency to do stupid things sometimes.'

'Tell me about it.' Harry mumbled.

'I have known him for a very ling time and I know he usually only do things like that when he really cares.'

'I know,' Harry answered more coherently this time. 'If it wasn't for that I would have hexed him a long time ago.'

She gaped in surprise. 'You do realise he is the most powerful wizard on earth do you.' she laughed.

'Fourth,' Harry answered still too distracted to really concentrate in the conversation.

'Pardon?' the old lady asked.

'I said, fourth after Voldemort, Nicolas Flamel and me.'

She was surprised that the boy was aware of the power level hierarchy. If he did not say it, so matter of factly she would have thought it was boastful arrogance and a foolish threat to hex the headmaster. However, after her earlier observation she knew it was true. The question remained how he discovered his own power level. A boy of his age was supposed to barely have control of his wand.

'So Harry apart from my unannounced visit, why are you so angry with the headmaster?'

'I am not really angry, just incredibly frustrated. His so… so, manipulative, controlling, secretive, stubborn and thick-headed. Why can't he just accept that I am not evil and don't need an intervention. I know I am a bit dark some times but dark does not equal evil.'

'I know the headmaster annoys you, but he is not the only reason I am here. Some of your other teachers were also concerned about you and that was what convinced him to get my help.'

Harry's shoulders slumped at that. Did his other teachers also think there was something wrong with him?

'Harry they informed me about your sleeping problem and if you want I could help you. I will only do it if you really want my assistance. I will not force you into it.'

Harry considered her offer for a wile. 'Do you really think you could help with that? I have had this problem for almost my entire life. Not even Occlumency and meditation can block out my dreams.'

Again she was surprised at the advanced techniques the boy was using. Albus definitely did not brief her sufficiently enough.

'I don't know, but I am willing to try if you are.'

If I agree, then it will only be for the dreams, nothing else. I do not want someone poking around in my mind. You will find that my shields will not drop, not even if I am knocked unconscious.'

She smiled at that. 'Then it is fortunate that there won't be any knocking happening. Unfortunately, you will have to trust me. I am a mind healer after all.'

'That's where he hit a little snag. I don't trust easily. I will have to know you _a lot_ better before I will even consider trusting you. I am not even considering letting you or anyone else get near my mind.'

'Then I think I'll arrange some time that we could become better acquainted. I promise I won't twist it into some kind of therapy session. We will just talk and get to know each other better.'

Harry just nodded and silently walked back to the castle with her.

OoOoOoO

After that initial meeting, Perenelle came to see Harry once a week. She kept her promise and they just talked about what ever Harry was comfortable to speak about. What Harry really liked about her was that she did not mind to criticise the headmaster, in fact she did it regularly. However, she always had reasons to justify her opinions. Also, she did not hero worship him, or treat him like a little kid. She was the only person that treated him like an adult. That was a refreshing contrast to how the rest of the world treated him.

Another thing that Harry did in the past month was writing a letter to Nicolas Flamel. Neville and Ron were driving him crazy. Every time they got near the third floor they would go and listen at the door to make sure that Fluffy was still well and doing his guarding duty. He was also irritated at the way they were treating Quirrell. He knew they thought they were actually helping by being nice to the ailing man. Harry knew why the professor was sick. Voldemort was slowly leeching away all his energy. Unfortunately, Harry could not tell his friends that.

After a lot of consideration, Harry decided to write a letter to the old alchemist. He did not want his friends involved in a situation like what happened in his other life. He hoped that he could somehow arrange for the stone to be moved before he had to go and save the day again. So far, he had not received a reply.

Luckily, Hermione had her attention focused on another obsession. She had worked out colour-coded study schedules for all of them. She even took into consideration time for their morning exercise and magic practise and also time to experiment with alternate forms of magic. They had started to teach some of the things they had learned from Mrs De Villiers to their two friends.

They still had not made any progress with their Occlumency but all of them had managed to meditate for at least half an hour. Ron had the most trouble with sitting still that long. Luckily, the amulets that Hermione made for them gave them a little protection. It could block surface scans that were preformed with out a wand. But if Snape really wanted to know anything he would be able to get through easily.

The other two boys were not pleased by their bushy haired friend's efforts but Harry backed her up all the way so the two boys grudgingly agreed to also follow the schedule.

Therefore, it was that the four of them spend almost the entire Easter holiday studying. Ron complained that the only benefit out of all this studying was that Percy stopped to bug them. Apparently, the prefect finally approved of something they were doing and stopped to monitor their every move. The down side was that the twins said that Ron was turning into another Percy. Ron took it as a personal insult and retaliated by pranking the twins. After that, they left the first years alone; satisfied that they was still redeemable from a morbid live of academia. Harry also convinced the twin terrors to study. He told then that the more knowledge they had the more complex and spectacular pranks they could pull. Harry later confessed to Hermione that he was afraid that he might have created monsters.

OoOoOoO

One morning in the library, the dream team was busy with their now normal daily activity; studying.

Harry was looking up "Dittany" in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Neville for potions. It never made sense for Harry that a person that was so naturally gifted with Herbology had so much trouble with potions. Luckily, Neville did better in this time line than the last. His more self-confidant demeanor did wonders for his magical skill and control, yet he still had to work especially hard in potions.

They did not look up until from their work, not even to appreciate the wonderful clear sky outside. Ron's sudden exclamation of "Hagrid!" broke them out of their focus.

'What are you doing in the library?' Ron asked curiously, glad for any distraction from studying. Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. Harry thought again that his giant friend looked very out of place in the library. He was clearly more at ease outdoors. Harry momentarily wondered what he was doing there when the sudden realization hit him. He just groaned and hit his head in the table in front of him. Neville just looked at his friend strangely but refocused his attention on Ron and Hagrid.

'Jus' lookin'.' the giant said, in a shifty voice that even got Hermione's interest. Until then she was totally focused on her studies. Neville pointed at Harry but she just shrugged her shoulders she and gave a small smile, before listening in on Ron's conversation with the giant. Harry unaware of this interaction was still pounding his head on the table.

'An' what're you lot up ter?' He looked suddenly suspicious. 'Yer

not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?'

Ron just laughed. 'We found out who he is ages ago, and we know what your _little pet_ is guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St …'

Harry gave his head an extra thump for his friend's lack of discretion. He would have to remember to work on that with his friends.

'Shhhh!' Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. 'Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?'

'There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact,' said Hermione, 'about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy?'

'SHHHH!' said Hagrid again. 'Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not

promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it

in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh. Anyway I think you nee' a break Harry seems ta hav' had enough.'

'See you later, then,' said Neville as Hagrid shuffled off, he then gave Harry a small poke on the shoulder.

'What's up mate?' he asked concerned. Harry just shook his head.

He just mumbled 'I hate dragons.'

Neville just shook his head. 'I also think it is time for fresh air.

Hermione was ignoring the boys she had another thing puzzling her. 'What was he hiding behind his back?' Hermione asked thoughtfully.

'Do you recon it had anything to do with the Stone?' Ron asked as he got up from his seat. 'I'm going to see what section he was in.'

He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

'Dragons!' he whispered. 'Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to_ _Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide_.'

At Ron's exclamation, Harry hit his head again. Ron noticed it for the first time asked Neville. 'What's up with him?'

'I think he had one of those psychic moments again and I don't think he liked what he saw.'

'Hagrid's always wanted a dragon,' Hermione said. 'Do you remember he told us that a while ago when we were visiting him?'

'Yeh, he loves them.' Neville agreed.

'But it's against our laws,' said Ron. 'Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It is hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we are keeping dragons in the back garden. Anyway, you cannot tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania.'

Hermione looked impressed over at her friend. 'How can you remember all that and not the work for the exams?'

'I don't know, maybe because I did not _have_ to study it. My brain blocks up with pressure.'

Hermione just shook her head, and then asked. 'But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?'

'Of course there are,' said Ron. 'Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget.'

'So what on earth's Hagrid up to?' wondered Neville echoing the other two friends' thoughts.

OoOoOoO

As they walked down to Hagrid's hut Harry thought that this would be another meeting scripted by fate. It did not matter if he did not say what he said in the previous time line. He knew the conversation would go the same with one of his friends saying his old line if he did not comply with fates stupid insistence to keep things the same. He often wondered why and how he was send back here if the stupid _bitch_ did not want him to change anything.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut, the friends were surprised to see that all the curtains were drawn. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them. It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them sandwiches, which they refused. Harry smiled as he thought about Hagrid's cooking skills; nobody has ever had the heart to tell him it was inedible for normal humans.

'So -- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?'

'Yeh," said Ron. There was no point beating around the bush. 'We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy.'

Harry gave a groan and mumble , 'You and Nev not me.'

Hagrid frowned at Ron not hearing what Harry said.

'O' course I cant,' he said. 'Number one, I don' know me'self. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all?'

'Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here,' said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. She was not particularly interested to know but decided to help the two curious friends. She knew Ron did not have enough tact to pull it off. As good as, he was with strategy and planning just as bad was he at actually implementing them. It was one of those sad ironies in life. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

'We only wondered who had done the guarding, really.' Hermione went on.

'We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you.'

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione.

'Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall…' he ticked them off on his fingers, 'Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.'

'Snape?'

Harry almost laughed aloud at his friends' unanimous exclamation.

'Yeah -- yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it.'

Harry knew what his friends were thinking. It was so funny and also frustrating at the same time. Snape was an evil bastard, and Harry would never defend the greasy idiot but in this instance he was actually not to blame. Harry often wondered why Snape protected the stone in first year if he was a Death Eater all along. _'Why all this effort just to betray us in sixth year?'_ Harry could see how Hermione's mind were prosesing the new information and coming to conclusions. _'If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything…except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.'_

'You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you,

Hagrid?' she asked anxiously.

'And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?' Neville added.

'Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore,' said Hagrid proudly.

'Well, that's something,' Harry muttered almost sarcastically, he knew his friend could not keep a secret, no matter how noble and good his intentions were.

'Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling.'

'Can't, Neville, sorry,' said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire, and wanted to hit his head against something again. He really loved Hagrid but this was ridiculous. He would have to get rid of the dragon as fast as possible. Ron followed Harry's gaze and took a sharp intake of breath.

'Hagrid… what's that? It's not a…'

But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

'Ah,' said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, 'That's er...'

'Where did you get it, Hagrid?' said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg.

'It must've cost you a fortune.'

'Won it,' said Hagrid. 'Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a

few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest.'

'With good reason.' Harry said. 'Hagrid honestly what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?'

'Well, I've bin doin' some readin',' said Hagrid, pulling a large book

from under his pillow. 'Got this outta the library- _Dragon Breeding_

_for Pleasure and Profit_ - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's

all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize

diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're

rare, them.'

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione and Harry did not.

'Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,' the bushy haired girl said.

However, Hagrid was not listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. So now, the friends had something else to worry about. What might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut. Harry just shook his head. 'Told you I did not like dragons.' He whispered to Neville when Hagrid was not looking.

OoOoOoO

In the months since she met Harry, master Li and Moony, Eleanor had changed a lot. Her meditation had helped her, to block others emotions somewhat. She also enjoyed her lessons with her new uncle. Yet she could feel his pain. She knew he liked her a lot and did not blame her for her father's "actions". However every time he looked at her he was reminded of his friend's betrayal. She knew Harry did not feel it was the right time to tell the werewolf about her father's innocence, but she disagreed. She did not like seeing him in so much turmoil. She had made up her mind. She would tell him today.

Eleanor walked into the study were she was supposed to get her next lesson. Remus was already there waiting for her.

'You miss them a lot,' she said

The werewolf was a bit startled by her sudden observation.

'You can feel my longing, can't you?' He asked sadly.

'Yes, you miss them all soo much. Even my father.'

Remus laughed sadly. 'My mind knows he is lost, a traitor. But the wolf in me feels that my pack brother would never betray me and he yearns to be reunited.'

'This conflict is not good for you. You know Master Li said that you should stop fighting the wolf; you should bond and integrate with it. Trust those instincts.'

'You know I can't. I can never be friends with him again. I know he is your father, but he hurt me deeply. It doesn't matter anyway, he is in Azkaban.'

'What if your instincts are correct and he is not the traitor,' she asked

'That is only wishful thinking,' he answered sadly.

'My father is innocent, Harry told me about it.'

'What did he say, how is it possible? How could he know?'

'Harry said that he dreamt about it.'

'Dreamt?' he asked incredulously.

'Harry is a dream oracle. Anyway, I have also_ seen_ that he is innocent.'

Remus just shook his head not sure, how he should react to this information. Could it really be true? Was his friend really innocent? That thought chilled his heart. If it was true then an innocent man had spend all those years in Azkaban.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Draco watched the Gryffindors enter the hall. In the past few months, it seemed as if it was one of the only things he did. Watching, always watching. He saw how they cared for and helped each other. He saw how their friendship had grown. He noticed that they all wore identical amulets, declaring them part of a secret group that only they were member off. He knew they did not realize it but he had even spied on some of their training sessions. Loathed as he was to admit it, he was jealous. He wished he could also learn some of the stuff they did. He was irritated with the fact that he only had two idiots for company. In all his time of watching, he never saw an opportunity to deliver his package to Potter. His father was most unpleased that his task was not yet completed. He wished he knew what it was supposed to do; it looked positively muggle to him. He smiled to himself, he would get those annoying Gryffindors someway, he would just have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity.

'Mione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon

hatching?' the red haired idiot's words got his attention.

'We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what

Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing…' the mudblood answered her friend.

'Shut up!' Harry whispered.

Draco had to give the raven-haired boy some credit, at least he had some notion of discretion. Draco had often wondered why the boy was not sorted into his noble house. In his observations of his nemesis, he had noticed the boy possessed almost all of the Slytherin traits.

Draco flashed his arch-rival a knowing smirk just to freak him out, as they parted for their first class.

He had almost no concentration in his morning classes. He ordered the two lumps to stay in the common room at morning break. He quickly found his quarry and followed them to the Half-blood giant's hut. He could not understand why anyone would willingly come and visit a servant in their free time. Yet he was interested in the snippet of conversation that he had overheard. If they truly had a dragon, he could use this information as good blackmail material. Draco sneaked around and found a place to peek inside without them noticing him. The giant greeted the Gryffindorks, looking flushed and excited.

'It's nearly out.' The gamekeeper said excitedly as he ushered them inside. A huge egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside. Draco could faintly hear funny clicking noise was coming from it. The occupants of the dreadfully tacky hut all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath. He hoped this would not take too long. He was hungry and his shoes were already spattered with mud. He did not fancy standing in the dirt for too long.

All at once, there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It was one of the ugliest things he had ever seen. It looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body; it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes. Draco sneered at the thing his name represented. He had always envisioned majesty and power, not this pathetic thing. Hopefully, it would look better as it got bigger, he could not imagine that his father would ever give him a weak name. It sneezed and couple of sparks flew out of its snout. _'Well at least it had fire.' _Draco thought as the spied through the window.

'Isn't he beautiful?' the great oaf murmured as he reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. Draco smiled as he saw that the little beast had a bit of spunk.

'Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!' said Hagrid.

Draco wanted to gag at the idiot's stupidity.

'Hagrid,' said the know it all, 'how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?'

Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face and leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

Draco let loose a string of curses as he was discovered. He quickly turned tail and ran. It did not really matter. He had more that enough information to use against them.

OoOoOoO

Harry and his friends had spent most of their free time with Hagrid, trying to convince him to free the dragon that he had lovingly christened Norbert. He did not want to hear any of it. After a lot of pleading from the four friends, and threats that Malfoy would give them away, the half giant finally, though reluctantly, agreed that Ron could write to his brother Charlie for help.

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron and Neville appeared out of nowhere as they pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak. They had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed little old Norbert. The Beast was now consuming dead rats by the crate. _'Pity a certain other rat was not joining the other dead rats in the dragon's belly.'_ Harry thought, he also pondered what he would have to do if Charlie's respond did not come soon.

'It bit me!' Ron moaned showing his hand to his friends. 'Neville wrapped it for me with that new first aid charm that you showed us the other day. It still hurt like the blazes and I won't be able to hold a quill for a week!'

Neville just smirked. 'Hagrid's mental; when we left he was singing it a lullaby, as if it was a cute little furry creature.'

There was a tap on the dark window.

'It's Hedwig!' said Harry, hurrying to let her in. '_Finally,_' he thought as he took the letter from her. The four friends huddled together as Hermione read the note for them.

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? Thanks for the letter. I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

Now they would just have to figure out a way to do this with out being caught. However, by now Harry would do anything to get rid of the bloody dragon. Both of them. He did not like the fact that Draco was spying on them.

'We could use the invisibility cloak,' Neville suggested. 'It shouldn't be too difficult. I think the cloaks big enough to cover two of us and

Norbert. So you would not even have to break the rules Hermione.'

'I'm not letting you do this alone, I'm all for following the rules but I wont abandon you.'

The three boys just smiled at the smartest member of their group.

OoOoOoOoOoO

As the boys got to their dormitory, Harry went straight to his trunk and got out a hand full of potions.

'Come over here Ron,' Harry gestured and handed Ron some of the vials. 'Drink those.'

'What are they?' Ron asked skeptically as he sniffed one of them.

'That one is an anti-venom, the red one is a general disincentive and the blue one is a pain killer that will also help you sleep. We do not want that to get infected. It would only make the teachers suspicious.'

Ron happily downed the potions. Relief spread almost instantly on his face.

'Where did you get all of those?' Neville asked, as he got ready for bed.

'I made them myself.'

'Cool, someday I'll find out how you do all that stuff. I would personally never drink anything that I brew.'

'You'll get better at it mate, you just need more practice.'

OoOoOoO

It was Friday and Harry was busy playing a game of chess with the Headmaster.

'You know I don't understand you.' Harry suddenly said, unable to keep his thoughts to himself.

'Oh, how so my boy?' the man answered genially.

'I thought Hagrid was your friend.'

'He is, why do you ask?'

'I know you know about the dragon, how you could not with all those bloody portraits spying on everyone.'

Albus was shocked that the boy was once again aware of one of his secret methods. Harry continued to speak.

'Then why don't you help him, why let it become me and my friends' problem. The bloody thing nearly took Ron's hand off.'

'I think you handled the situation just fine, if a saw that you truly needed my help I would have intervened.'

Harry could just strangle the old man as he sat there smiling with his eyes all twinkley.

'Okay then,' Harry conceded. 'Would you then help us if I asked for assistance?' Harry asked.

'Of course my boy, you just have to ask.' Dumbledore answer with an extra bright twinkle. Harry took a breath a reminded himself not to hex the old man then asked.

'Would you please accompany us on Saturday; I do not fancy loosing points for being out of bounds.'

Dumbledore just smiled as if he had won some kind of victory.

OoOoOoOoO

The group of friends accompanied by the Headmaster found Fang, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to get Norbert that night.

They felt sorry for Hagrid now that the time had come for him to say good-bye to Norbert. However, their relief outranked their grief by mountains. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut. Even with the Headmaster, accompanying them they had had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he had been playing tennis against the wall with paint balls. Harry did not even want to think where he got those. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

'He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey,' said a teary eyed in Hagrid in a muffled voice. 'An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely.' The friends winced as they heard ripping noises from inside the crate. Clearly, teddy was having his head torn off.

'Bye-bye, Norbert!' Hagrid sobbed, the headmaster gently patted the huge man's shoulder.

'Mommy will never forget you!'

Getting the crate up the tower was a lot easier this time round. The headmaster simply levitated it for them.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot, although they were surprised to see the headmaster there. They showed the eager first years the harness they had rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and they then all shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going... going... gone.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

How was it? Let me know and review.

My exams start in November so I will not start writing the next chapter before the twentieth. Luckily, I have a lot of time after that. (Two month holiday, got to love student life). I plan to finish first year before the end if this year. So be prepared for a lot of reading.

Should I end the story and start another for year two or should I just continue with this one? Please let me know.

Thanks for all the reviews:

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Amberile


	17. Parsley, sage rosemary and thyme

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thanks to my betas _**Weasel Debater and **__**Pyro**_

It's my birthday today and to celebrate I decided to update.

**Chapter 16**** Parsley, sage rosemary and thyme.**

The next day dawned brightly and Harry smiled as he watched the sun come up over the forest. His housemates would still like him and his friends. He was relieved that he would not be ostracised again for losing a hundred and fifty house points. He could also not wait to see Draco's face when he realised that his big chance to blackmail them was gone. He was a bit worried at how much the blond boy knew about him and his friends. He would keep a closer eye on the ferret from now on. Harry realised that he was getting lax the more comfortable he was getting with his friends in this time of peace. CONSTANT VIGALANCE! That is what he needed. He could not afford to let anything slip just because he was having fun with his second childhood. Harry had a lot planed for the weeks before exam time. Although he studied a bit, he did not need nearly as much time as his friends did. He usually charmed one of his more advanced books to look like the books that his friends studied. Therefore, Hermione was satisfied that all her friends were studying hard. At night when he could not sleep and did not want to wake his friends, Harry simply got into his trunk and read in his library or practised his magic or music. Lately he was experimenting with playing his instruments with magic. It was a lot more difficult than he initially thought it would be. He also kept busy experimenting with parcel magic. Amberile was more than willing to help, but she sometimes annoy him with some of the comments she made.

Amberile was still trying to convince her new friend to meet Harry. Zally did not want to hear of it, she could not believe there was something like a trustworthy human. Harry could not help to think her antagonism to humans was the reason she tried to kill him the first time. It did not matter weather Riddle gave the order or not she would have tried to kill him anyway. Harry hoped he could convince her to trust him; he really did not want to be bitten by a fifty-foot tall snake again.

The training he was doing with his friends was also coming along. Now that they had basic wand and magic control down, it was easier to teach them new stuff. He would now start to teach then practical applications to some of the spells and skills they had already learned. He was planning to start their combat training by introducing them to the game of paintball. In his other life, the twins invented this simple paint spell to annoy Percy. Now Harry would use it in a different, yet more useful, way. There was nothing like sticky florescent paint to teach you speed and stealth. It would also teach them how to cast more accurately on a moving target. Harry shuddered when he thought what Mad-eye would have put him thought if he knew of this spell when he was training him. He then smiled at the thought that he was almost doing the same kind of thing with his friends. Best of all was that he could involve the twins and some of his other friends, such as Susan, to make the game bigger and improve all of their skills and no one would be any wiser to the real purpose of the game.

Harry still did not receive a reply from Flamel. He honestly did not blame the man. If he received a letter telling him that his highly guarded possession was going to be stolen, he would also think it was a hoax. Especially if the letter was from a famous first year. He probably did not even believe the letter was from Harry. Harry decided that he would send him another letter and if he did not reply before the end of exams he was going to steal it anyway and find a way to return it later. He did not want to be the cause of the Flamels' deaths just because he kept the stone. They could always spread rumours later on that the stone was destroyed.

Harry heard curtains draw behind him and saw a sleepy Neville getting out of bed.

'I still can't understand how you can be up this early, especially after going to bed so late.' Neville said while stretching. He then went to his trunk and got a t-shirt and shorts out. While he was getting ready for their morning run Harry attempted to wake his red haired friend. As usual, it was a mission and a half and Harry once again resorted to spraying his friend with cold water.

Ron jumped in the air and fell out of bed while Neville looked on with a smile. Ron just grumbled something about getting revenge one of these days. Harry just shook his head and smiled. It would be a long time before Ron would be able to get past the wards around his bed. Anyone trying to get in that had negative intentions would get a bit of a shock. Harry also seriously doubted that Ron would ever be able to get up before Harry did in the mornings to try anything.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The friends entered the hall the morning refreshed after their work out. Harry saw a smug looking Draco sitting at the Slytherin table. Poor fool did not even realise that his big chance was wasted and that he would make an idiot of himself if he tried to tell anybody about a dragon that was not there anymore. As Harry was finishing his toast, Errol delivered another letter from Ginny. He was always excited to hear from her, yet it was always accompanied by an incredible feeling of loss. The more he got to know the young girl the more he realised that she was not the same, and would never be the same, as his Ginny from his old life. He wanted to be alone for a bit to sort out his feelings so he excused himself saying that he forgot a book and would see his friends in class.

As he slowly and aimlessly wandered the corridors, he walked past his head of house. She immediately noticed something was wrong and escorted him to her office, ignoring his protests.

'Now Harry I know something is bothering you.' She said as she opened a tin with biscuits in and offered him one.

Harry smiled weakly as he remembered another time in is five year when she also gave him biscuits. He finally took one after getting his thoughts sorted out a bit. He knew he could talk to her. She was always wiling to listen even if she never understood it all.

'It's not a dream as usual, I just received a letter and realised something.' Harry answered vague, as usual.

'What did you realise?' McGonagall prompted when se saw he was not going to say any more.

'I have lost something precious and I will never be able to get it back. No matter how hard I try or pretend it will never be the same. I will forever be taunted by Fate with a near perfect replica, a constant reminder of what was or could have been and never actually having it again. Yet fearing that I will also fail again and lose the replica. Even though it is not the same as the original I know losing it would hurt just the same.' Harry shook his head knowing he was not making any sense to the woman that was trying to help him.

'I must go I'll be late for class. Thanks for listing to my ramble.' he said before getting up and leaving.

McGonagall just shook her head, Harry rarely made sense when he opened up enough and actually talked about his problems. Nevertheless, his random conversations and comments seemed to help him so she was glad that he actually trusted her enough to talk with her. She knew he would never _just_ talk to Albus like this. It was really ironic, she knew if he did not try so hard Harry would actually be a lot more open to him. It all came down to control. Harry needed to feel that he was making the decision. He would not give you anything if he thought there was an ulterior motive attached. Albus was too used to getting his own way and running everything to ever understand how to get along with the raven-haired boy.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Since Remus had that conversation with Eleanor, he just could not get it out of his mind. Could it possibly be true? He just had to find out. Unfortunately, his status as a werewolf was making his investigation a lot harder. No one at the ministry wanted to tell him anything. The fact that his friend never had a trial made it even more difficult to get information. Apparently, the records were sealed, and there was no way he could get anything. That left him with only one source of information, and he was not eager to meet with the old man again.

He apparated to Diagon Alley and from there flooed to the headmaster's office.

'Remus what a pleasant surprise. I was starting to wonder where you disappeared to.'

All the wolf instincts in Remus screamed at him and for once, he was listening to them. Master Li was right. Since he started listen to his inner wolf he was a lot healthier than he used to be. He no longer trusted the old man and knew there was more to the congenial smile than met the eye.

'Oh no Albus, I did not disappear. I got a new job as a personal assistant and part-time tutor. As part of my contract I must live with my employer because he is very old and needs help constantly.'

Albus was baffled by this. Who in their right mind would hire a werewolf as a personal assistant? He would need wolfsbane to have a permanent job and Severus was the only qualified Potions Master in Britain that could make it.

'I have not heard of any one needing an assistant.' Dumbledore said trying to figure out who it was.

'Oh you would not have heard about it. He is a muggle that owns his own business.'

'I see. So how do you deal with your monthly condition?'

'Come now Albus, I did not come here to discuss my furry little problem.'

Dumbledore conceded and sat down while offering some tea. Remus also took a seat and thanked the house elf as he handed him a cup.

'Lets get down to business then.' Dumbledore said.

'I want to know if there is any possibility that Sirius could possibly be innocent.' Remus asked.

'What ever brought this on? It happened so many years ago. You know that he betrayed us. Why do you question it now?'

'It doesn't matter why I ask; I just want to know if it is a possibility.'

'Remus, I know you miss your friend, but it has been years; it is time to accept it and move on. James, Lily and Peter are dead and Sirius is in Azkaban. Moody was there when they arrested him, he told me that Sirius stood there laughing like a mad man, surrounded by dead bodies.'

'Yes but what if he is innocent, he never received a trial. Couldn't you review is case?'

'I don't see the need. I would cause a riot if I even suggested it to the Wizengamot.'

'I see, I'll go then, sorry to have wasted your time.' Remus said as he got up. No one would listen to him they could not even consider that there might have been a mistake. The only other place he could possibly get the truth was to visit Azkaban and talk with his friend himself. It was a trip he was not looking forward to. He had not seen his once friend in ten years and he did not know if he was ready for it. What if Eleanor was wrong? What if she was right? He knew what he had to do; he just had to gather enough courage to actually go there.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was sitting under a tree beside the lake staring at the water. It was a secluded spot shrouded from few by a few boulders. It was the perfect spot to meet Perenelle without rousing questions from suspicious or nosy people.

It was a lovely day and he felt peaceful just sitting there watching the water and the occasional squid tentacle popping up. It kind of reminded him of his days in Master Li's garden.

Perenelle saw the peaceful almost unguarded look on the young boy that had been a puzzle to her since the first day they met. She really liked him. He was really fun to talk to. Something that surprised her greatly. It is difficult to have interesting discussions when you have lived so long and have seen so much. This boy understood more about the world and life than probably most adults that she knew. She really wondered what really happened to shape this child into what he was not. She hoped that one day she would be privilege enough the gain his trust and maybe a bit of his story.

'What are you thinking of?' She asked in a soft voice, not wanting to disturb his tranquillity.

'Oh, I was thinking of my master. I miss the time we used to spend together. It's not the same practicing alone and I don't think my friends really understand the essence of the arts. They get the movements just fine but I don't think they understand it. For them it is just something fun that I am teaching them.'

'Then what is it, if it is not just some fighting skills?' She asked, feigning ignorance. She wanted to hear Harry's opinion and see if he really understood it himself. It was tragic how few wizards bothered with physical training. They did not realize that their magic was effectively weaker because of their laziness.

'It is that also, but a lot more. It is grace and art in movement. It is skill and perfection. It is discipline. It is a way of life to preserve life. It is the protection of innocence. It is magic al of its own.'

'Why do you say it is magic? Isn't it just muggle fighting?' she asked actually imprested at the passionate way Harry talked about it. She did not think Albus realised the dept of this boy.

Harry laughed. 'My master is a muggle and he is probably more powerful than most people in that castle. When he is practising his skills he is actually tapping into the little magic he has in him. The effect is impressive. I don't think Wizards realize how many muggles can and actually do use Magic. You would be amazed if you actually tried to find out. They have magical skills that most wizards could only dream of. But wizards are to prejudice and stubborn to learn it.'

She was impressed. Harry once again broke through a wizarding barrier, which had annoyed her for centuries. Why her old friend thought the boy was on the road to darkness, only he would know. Maybe it was because he was open to all forms of magic and Albus feared that the boy would immerse himself in the Dark Arts. As she thought about what she heard, she saw a very poisonous and rare snake slither through a crack in the rock. All other thoughts left her mind, and she pulled her wand. She would have to act fast if she was to save the boy. One bite and Harry would only have a few minutes to live.

oooo

Harry was annoyed as he saw Amberile slither up to him. She knew she was not supposed to be seen if he was not in the company of his friends. He also wondered what she was doing so far out of the castle. The snake looked up at Harry and looked honestly surprised to see him.

'Ssorry, was pipe exploring with Zzzally and took an sssside turn and came out here sss.'

Harry just nodded his head a little not wanting to give away his unique ability. He also made a slight shooing motion with his finger. Amberile eminently caught on and slithered back into the hole she came from.

Harry turned his head and saw Perenelle with her wand drawn ready to curse his little friend. She had a relieved expression on her face as she saw the snake retreat.

She breathed out. 'I see you have another special ability, on your list of what makes you unique,' she said with a weak smile.

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Harry said, cursing his bad luck. He could not be mad with Amberile, there was no way she could have known where she would have come out. It was just his luck that it was when and where he was while in the company of others.

'Harry, don't worry. I do not believe parcel magic is an evil skill. It is a birthright that few are privilege to have. I know how it feels to have a special talent. Although empathy is not a talent synonymous with evil most people don't like it if they find out you know all their inner feelings.'

That sparked Harry's interest. If she was an empath then she might know how to help Eleanor.

'How do you deal with it? How did you manage not to go insane?' Harry asked eagerly.

'Don't tell me you also have this skill?' she asked amazed. This could explain why Harry was so closed up. He was blocking everything to keep his sanity. She could just imagine how difficult it would be dealing with an untrained ability in a school full of moody teenagers.

Harry shook is head. 'No, thank Merlin not. But my friend has the strongest ability I have ever seen and she is trying really hard to learn Occlumency to block her mind. Any suggestions on teaching it to a ten year old before the next year? She is supposed to come here but it looks as if that wont be possible. I have tried meditation and even crystal blocking and although it is effective to a certain extend it will not block out every emotion in the great hall.'

As one possible explanation for the puzzle that is Harry fades a way it was replaced with eagerness to meet this young person with a very special ability. It had been years since she had her last apprentice and she could not wait to meet Harry's friend. Keeping your sanity after ten years without training was almost unthinkable. She usually started training kids when they were five. This friend must be quite special.

'I could help your friend, simple Occlumency won't do the trick, but it is a start. Would you mind telling me his name?'

'I'll write to her and ask if she would concede to your help. There are special circumstances surrounding her.'

Perenelle just laughed. 'Of cause there is you are involved.'

'Hey, I resent that, even if it is true.'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was starting to think all his worries about his friends going after the stone was unnecessary. So far, they stayed away from the forbidden forest and they even cut back on their Fluffy check up. Their minds were focused on the coming exams. However, it was not to last. As they were walking back from the library one afternoon, they heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As they drew closer, they heard Quirrell's stuttering voice.

'No -- no -- not again, please –'

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry's three friends moved closer. While Harry was once again cursing fate.

'All right -- all right –' they heard Quirrell sob.

The next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode hastily out of sight. The friends did not think Quirrell had even noticed them. They waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then Neville and Ron peered into the classroom, while Hermione spared a glance at Harry's pensive look. The class was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end.

They were halfway toward it before Harry said they should not meddle.

'But Harry, I would bet twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape just left this room,' said Ron

'From what we just heard, I bet Snape is walking with a new spring in his step -- Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.' Neville added.

'Snape's done it!' said Hermione. 'If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell –'

'There's still Fluffy, though,' said Neville.

'Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,' said Ron, 'I bet there's a book somewhere in the library or his personal collection telling him how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?'

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, spelling doom in Harry's opinion. Before Harry could dissuade them Hermione said,

'Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago.'

'But you've got no proof!' said Harry. 'Any way you know how he is. He is positively unbearable after I asked his help with the dragon. You should just leave this alone. Anyway, Quirrell's too scared to back you up if it really is Snape and not someone else. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor -- who do you think they'll believe, him or you? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining. It is more trouble than it is worth.'

Hermione looked convinced, but Ron and Neville did not.

'If we just do a bit of poking around –'

'No,' said Harry flatly, 'we've done enough poking around. Please don't do anything stupid.'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Draco was starting to get frustrated. It would appear that Harry realized that he was being tailed and now it was almost impossible to get close to him. Draco did not know how Harry always knew when he was watching him but it was making him anxious because the school year was almost at an end and he still had not managed to complete his task. At this moment, he just wanted to hit something. He knew he should calm himself even his two self-proclaimed henchmen were starting to notice his agitation. He really did not know why he tolerated those two idiots. He supposed everyone needed a few minions to do their bidding. All the better if they were willing and devoted followers.

Just as he planed to hex that stupid Hufflepuff, Bones, he thought was her name, to get rid of a bit of his tension. Longbottom had to come along and spoil his fun.

'Susan watch out.' Neville warned as he blocked the girl from harm.

Draco just sneered as the "dream team" came to the rescue of the innocent damsel in distress. Wands drawn and ready for action. It was almost like a picture out of one of the wizarding action comics that he had read as a small boy. The hero's rushing in to save the day. Did they not realise that they were actually the cause of his problems. He steadied his wand ready, for a fight. Anything to take out his anger on. Obviously, his two cronies followed. But he soon realize he was outnumbered. Not only were the annoying Gryffindorks pointing their wands at him, but also the Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw boy he did not even know. This could get messy. Then again, he really did not care. Anyway, they were all first years so none of them could do any damage really, could they? Just as he decided, a good fight could be fun and started the first curse. A strict voice bellowed.

'What on earth is going on here?'

Professor Sinatra was livid. Never in her life had she seen this from first year students. There was the occasional scuffle between the older students but not a big stand off between first years.

'Detention all of you, nothing could give you an excuse to fight in the halls. I am so disappointed at you.'

'But professor,' started Susan. 'We did not even use a single spell and…'

'Quiet, before I take house points.'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

'I can't believe how unreasonable she was.' Susan ranted as they got outside.

'Maybe she is just not a day person. Must happen if you spend all your time gazing at the stars.' Neville suggested.

'I'm sorry you got involved Terry, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.' Susan apologized to the boy that was just happened to be walking beside her when everything happened.

'No hard feelings, I was just as willing to hex the slimy git as all of you.' He answered. 'What is his problem anyway?'

'No idea, maybe his brain got fried during a failed Dark Arts experiment.' Ron joked.

'So anyone know what we will be doing for the detention?' Hermione asked.

That question stirred something in Harry's memory and he suddenly started to feel ill. His idiot of a Headmaster was going to allow first years to crash around in a dark forest with dark and menacing creatures. A forest that was supposedly out of bounds, with only an adult, that was unable to use magic, for supervision.

Neville noticed his friend's distraction and asked him.

'So what will it be, lines or scrubbing toilets.'

'If only, wear old muggle cloths to the detention and bring a muggle torch if you have one. You'll need it in the dark forest and then you can use your wand for defence and not light.'

'What's he talking about?' Terry asked curiously.

'He just had a vision about our detention. You had better follow his suggestion, he has never been wrong before.' Ron explained.

'So you're a psychic?' asked Susan intrigued.

'No, I'm not.' Harry said quickly before Neville and Ron could get into it again.

'Poor guy is still in denial.' Ron whispered loudly to Terry and Susan.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The following morning, notes were delivered to the Dream team, Susan and Terry at the breakfast table. They were all the same: _Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

At eleven o'clock that night, they made their way down to the entrance hall. On the way the met up with Terry and Susan. Filch was already there and so was Malfoy and his cronies.

'Follow me,' said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. 'I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?' he said, leering at them. 'Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do.'

They marched off across the dark grounds. Harry wondered why Dumbledore would employ such a vindictive bastard that obviously hated his job.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry and his friends could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

'Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started.'

The Gryffindors, heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. Only Harry kept his expression neutral. Their relief must have showed in their faces, because Filch said, 'I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece.'

At this, Terry let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks. Harry just snorted; luckily, he knew the forest well so his friends would be relatively safe with him.

'The forest?' Malfoy squeaked again, and he did not sound quite as cool as usual. 'We can't go in there at night -- there's all sorts of things in there -- werewolves, I heard.'

Susan clutched the sleeve of Neville's robe and made a choking noise.

'That's your problem, isn't it?' said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. 'Should've thought of them werewolves before you started fighting in the halls, shouldn't you? I won't allow you hoodlums to mess up my clean corridors.'

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

'Abou' time,' he said. 'I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, you guys?' The gentle half giant said as he saw the Gryffindors.

'I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid,' said Filch coldly; they're here to be punished, after all.'

'That's why yer late, is it?' said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. 'Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here.'

'I'll be back at dawn,' said Filch, 'for what's left of them,' he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness. Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

'I'm not going in that forest,' he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice. '_He always was a little cowardly bastard.' _Harry thought.

'Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,' said Hagrid fiercely.

'Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it.'

'But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this…'

'He'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts,' Hagrid growled. 'Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on.'

Malfoy did not move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

'Right then,' said Hagrid, 'now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment.'

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

'Look there,' said Hagrid, 'see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery.'

'And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?' said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice. Terry also agreed with the blond.

'There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang,' said Hagrid. 'An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least.'

'Hagrid, I don't think it is a good idea to split up.' Harry said.

'Na, it be fast'r this way.' Hagrid replied.

'I want Fang,' said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

'All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward,' said Hagrid.

'So me, Harry, Hermione'll, Neville an' Ron go one way an' tha res' of you lot, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now -- that's it -- an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh -- so, be careful -- let's go.'

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it, they reached a fork in the earth path where they spited up. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then, a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves. Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried. However, he was more worried about his friends being in this forest with Voldemort.

'Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?' Ron asked.

'Not fast enough,' said Hagrid. 'It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before.'

They walked past a mossy tree stump and could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.

'You all right, Hermione?' Hagrid whispered. 'Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter – GET BEHIND THAT TREE!'

Hagrid seized Hermione and Neville while Harry grabbed Ron and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. Hagrid pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The friends also drew their wands. They listened, holding their breaths. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away. Harry's scar was pricking lightly and he re-enforced his mental shields.

'I knew it, 'he murmured. 'There's summat in here that shouldn' be.'

'A werewolf?' Ron suggested.

'That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither,' said Hagrid grimly. 'Right, follow me, but careful, now.'

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

'Who's there?' Hagrid called. 'Show yerself -- I'm armed!'

Harry thought Hagrid was stupid giving away his location by screaming but did not comment on it. Neither did he point out how absolutely useless a crossbow would be against the Dark Lord.

Into the clearing came a chestnut centaur. Hermione's jaws dropped. Harry had told her storied about them but she never thought she would actually meet one.

'Oh, it's you, Ronan,' said Hagrid in relief. 'How are yeh?'

He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.

'Good evening to you, Hagrid,' said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. 'Were you going to shoot me?'

'Can't be too careful, Ronan,' said Hagrid, patting his crossbow.

'There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry, Neville, Hermione an' Ron, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, he's a centaur.'

'We'd noticed,' said Hermione faintly.

'Good evening,' said Ronan. 'Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?'

'Erm –' said Ron and Neville not sure how to act in the presence of a centaur

'A bit,' said Hermione timidly.

'A bit. Well, that's something.' Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky.

'Mars is bright tonight.' Harry said as he saw the centaur gaze at the stars.

'As it should. Not even you can change the way the planets move.'

'Yet a single flap of a butterflies wings can cause a natural disaster.'

'Yet the planets predicted it centuries in advance.'

'Do not forget to live in the present while you gaze into the future. Not even the orbits of planets are unchangeable. Do not become passive stares, become great as your race once was and take action. What good is it to know the future and do nothing about it?'

'You have no authority here in this forest little human foal.'

'I do not say it insult you. Mars is bright and in years to come it will only burn brighter. Think about the lives and safety of your foals and mares. They will not be safe. I know you have seen it.'

'Fate will not allow us to take action; our role in this is to map out the stars.'

'Break those bonds, regain you former glory. You have enough magic to protect yourselves. If you do not, there will not be a next generation to map the stars. You will all be gone.'

'Mars is shining too bright, out destiny is set.'

'Venus will shine again. I will do anything in my power to insure it. It is your choice if you want to bask her glory, time is running out. Now is the time for action. The time of gazing has passed.'

'Mars is bright tonight.' The centaur said again. Harry was getting frustrated. Never try to reason with a centaur. Hagrid and Harry's friends just listen to them in confusion.

Hagrid, glanced up, too, trying to figure it out. He gave up and rather said 'Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt -- you seen anythin'?'

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, and then sighed again. Harry looked at him imploringly.

'Always the innocent are the first victims,' he said. 'So it has been for ages past, so it is now.'

'Will you be the next?' Harry asked desperately.

'The stares will judge,' he answered.

'But have yeh seen anythin', Ronan?' asked Hagrid, annoyed that Harry was diverting the attention of the centaur. 'Anythin' unusual?'

'Mars is bright tonight,' Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. 'Unusually bright.'

'Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home, said Hagrid. 'So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?'

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, 'The forest hides many secrets.'

A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.

'Hullo, Bane,' said Hagrid. 'All right?'

'Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?'

'Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured -- would yeh know anythin' about it?'

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. 'Mars is bright tonight,' he said simply.

'We've heard,' said Hagrid grumpily. 'Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then.'

'Remember what I said, you could help to make Venus shine again. If only to save your young. I will not give in to Mars.' Harry said as they parted.

The Gryffindors followed Hagrid out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

'Never,' said Hagrid irritably, 'try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy star gazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon.'

'What the bloody hell was that all about anyway, Harry?' Ron asked.

Harry just shook his head. 'They are too stubborn for their own good.'

'D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?' Asked Neville when he realized that Harry was not going to explain anything.

'Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns -- never heard anythin' like it before.'

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking over his shoulder, making sure he could protect his friends. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched. And his senses were rarely wrong. They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.

'Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!'

'You wait here!' Hagrid shouted. 'Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!'

They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other. Hermione was scared; they could not hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them. Harry gave her a one handed hug to comfort her but still kept his guard up. Neville and Ron followed his example.

'You don't think they've been hurt, do you?' whispered Hermione.

'I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Susan...' Neville said.

The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others? At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. The Slytherins, Terry, Susan and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Terry and grabbed him as a joke. Susan saw it but did not realize what was really happening. She panicked and sent up the sparks.

'We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups –

'Hagrid, I think it would be better if we stayed together. You know that thing is prowling around. We are only first years and we don't know the forest.' Harry said, hoping Hagrid would not split them up again.

Hagrid just nodded after a second of thought and then led the way again.

They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by.

They could hear a cracking sound behind them.

'I'll go check it ou', yer jus' follow tha path.'

Harry was annoyed that Hagrid left then alone again but did as he was told. They could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

'Look –' he murmured, holding out his arm to stop everyone. Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer. It was the unicorn all right; luckily, it was still alive, but definitely badly injured. The first years were in aw, most had never seen anything so beautiful and sad before. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves. It was trying to get up but just could not manage it.

Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...

Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.

Harry knew he had to do something. He would not allow that unicorn to be killed in front of him. Malfoy and the others stood transfixed. The cloaked figure moved even closer to the unicorn. Harry immediately caste the strongest shield he knew around the unicorn, his friends and himself.

The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry menacingly. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry, but the shield blocked him. Familiar pain pierced his head; it was as though his scar were on fire. Luckily his occlumatic shields quickly blocked out the worst pain.

Malfoy was quivering and Susan was clutching Neville in a death grip. Terry did not caret for his dignity and was also cowering in Ron's arms. Hermione was shivering as she grabbed Harry's hand.

'Listen up,' Harry said calmly. 'My shield won't last forever. The only way to get out of this is to banish this creature out of this forest.'

All of the first years stared at Harry incredulously.

'Are you crazy? There is nothing we can do. We're all going to die!' Malfoy shrieked.

'Shut up.' Harry said while slapping the blond Slytherin trough the face.

The creature's attack on the shield became more persistent.

'You must do exactly as I say, if you panic now you will die.'

They all nodded dumbly. Too scared to do anything other than follow orders.

'Right, all of you, remove your pendants.' Harry said to his friends, while taking his own off. 'Neville, do you have any muggle herbs with you?'

'What are you doing, you wasting time, do something.' Malfoy said anxiously.

'If you don't shut up now and keep quiet, by Merlin I'm going to stun you.' Harry said and then ignored the blond focusing on his friend instead.

'I have parsley, sage rosemary and thyme.' Neville answered.

Harry snorted and Hermione gave a nervous giggle. The others did not have a clue what could be so amusing in a situation as this.

'It will do.' Harry said. 'I don't suppose anyone have a candle with them?' Harry asked not thinking anyone would have one.

'I actually have one.' Terry said in a cowering voice. 'You said to bring an alternative light source.' Harry just smiled.

While this was happening, the creature was snarling and looking for weaknesses in the shield. All the while, Harry was wondering where the bloody centaur was that rescued him the first time.

'Ok, take hands and make a circle around the unicorn.' While they were doing that Harry placed the four pendants in to the four wind directions. He also placed an herb in between the different pendants. He looked at his friends around him something was of he needed different combination. Then smiled to him self.

'Hermione I need for you to stand here,' he said while pointing at one of the compass points. Across from her, he made an unwilling Draco stand. At the other two ends, he placed Susan and Terry.

'Ok, you four when we start the ritual you will have to take hands. The rest of us will stand in around you.'

'What, I'm not taking their hands. Why are we doing this any way?'

Harry just glared the blond boy to silence.

'I know you're not too good with runes Ron, but Hermione must be in the circle for balance. I need you to repaint the runes on the pendants.'

'With what?' Ron asked nervously as he saw the thing bounce back from the shield again.

Harry tipped his head to the side in thought then answered with one word.

'Blood.'

'Are you crazy?' Hermione said.

'I thought bloodmagic was part of the Dark Arts.' Susan asked hesitantly.

Harry just glared at then and asked. 'Do you want to die?' Everyone stopped protesting at that.

The injured unicorn dipped her horn into her wound and dripped some of the blood on Ron's hands.

'I think she wants you to use her blood.' Harry said in awe, he never expected a unicorn to willingly give her blood to a human, and a male at that.

'While those four in the middle stand still and chant I want Ron to paint the Runes, Neville use the candle to light the Herbs and I'll create tune wards. After that, the rest of us will walk around those four. Do any of you have any thing we can add to this?'

The other just stared at Harry wide eyed only Harry's friends had an inkling of what he was planning.

'Right lets begin.' Harry said while taking out his flute and starting to play. He was trying to copy the sound Fawks made while he was singing.

The moment they started with the ritual a bright white surrounded then it started to break up into the colors of the rainbow and spread over the forest.

Voldemort gave a howl of fury and pain then fled. The moment he was gone, the kids fell down from exhaustion and relieve.

'Where did you learn this ritual?' Hermione asked in aw of the power they had just released.

'Would you believe me that I just made it up by combining the protective and warding aspects of almost all the alternative magic that I know?'

'You, you… what…you.' Hermione mumbled.

'What did we do anyway?' Malfoy asked arrogantly. His bravado returning the moment the danger was gone.

'You Malfoy, have just banished your Dark Lord using muggle magic.' Harry said with a grin. All of the blood in Draco's face left him and he became as pale as a ghost.

'That was the..the… I did… muggle…?' after a while, he recovered and sneered. 'Nice try Potter, you are not fooling me. That thing was not the Dark Lord.'

Harry just laughed at the blond boy and his just as pale cronies.

Terry and Susan were just as stunned, not comprehending fully what they have just seen and done.

They heard hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over them.

'Look, the cavalry has arrived.' Harry said sarcastically.

A centaur was standing over them, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body. He looked confused and just stared at the children and unicorn.

'Are you all right?' said the centaur after a while.

'Yes, thank you. The evil invading you is banished.'

The centaur had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He stared carefully at Harry, astounded at what he said. His eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead. He then looked at the other exhausted children.

'You are the Potter boy,' he said then smiled as he looked at the stars. 'My name is Firenze.'

Harry nodded and smiled. 'You know who I am and what I plan. I know you want to also fight against Fate also. Please try to convince you brothers, before Mars consumes us all. I will always be there to lend a hand. Tell them a new era is dawning and that the youth is willing to reach out.'

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.

'Firenze!' Bane thundered. 'What are you doing? What is going on here?'

'Do you realize who this is?' said Firenze. 'This is the Potter boy. The stars are changing.'

'What have he been telling you? Don't listen to this human.' growled Bane.

'Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?'

Ronan pawed the ground nervously. 'I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best,' he said in his gloomy voice. Bane kicked his back legs in anger.

'For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest! They do not care for us. He and his kind will only use you.'

Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger.

'Do you not see that unicorn?' Firenze bellowed at Bane. 'Do you not understand why it is still alive? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what was lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, against Fate and with humans alongside me if I must. The planets are moving and we must move with then. Do you not see that?'

Ronan and Bane just shook their heads and galloped away.

'Why's Bane so angry?' Neville asked confused. 'What was that thing we chased anyway?'

'Young foals do you know what unicorn blood is used -for?'

Harry and Hermione nodded but the others said 'No,'

'We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions.' Terry said.

'That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,' said Firenze. 'Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.'

The kids stared at Firenze's with big eye then at the unicorn that was shining silver in the moonlight.

'But who'd be that desperate?' Neville wondered aloud. 'If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?'

'It is,' Firenze agreed, 'unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else -- something that will bring you back to full strength and power -- something that will mean you can never die. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?'

Harry nodded. Not wanting to give anything away to the others not in his group. Luckily Hermione and Neville picked up on it and also did not say anything. Ron was occupied with something else and was staring into space.

The others still looked confused not understanding what the centaur was talking about. Draco was annoyed that Harry apparently knew and understood everything.

Ron then snapped out of it and in a quivering voice asked. 'Am I also cursed for life? I used the unicorn's blood in that ritual.'

Harry suddenly understood why his friend was so quiet.

'No Ron, she gave her blood willingly and you used it unselfishly. You also weren't stupid enough to drink it.' Harry comforted his friend.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Everyone just sat uncomfortably around the unicorn not sure what to do. Firenze had left a while ago to go look for Hagrid. While the waited Harry and Hermione was trying to heal the unicorn. Although Harry knew a lot of healing charms they were not as effective as on a human. At least he was now certain that the beautiful animal would not die from its wounds but it would need a lot of care to heal properly. Harry knew Hagrid would be able to do it.

'Harry! Kids, are you all right?'

Hagrid was running toward them down the path, puffing all the way.

'We're fine,' said Harry, 'the unicorn's needs your help, Hagrid.'

Back in the dark common room, the friends, although very tired did not want to sleep.

'Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich...' said Hermione.

'Stop saying the name!' said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

'Okay sorry, but still, I did not know he was still alive.' Ron said. 'Could we maybe just call him Tom?'

'Oh, honestly Ronald.' Hermione said but the red head did not want to back down.

'Fine,' she huffed and Neville and Harry just shook their heads.

'So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone,' Neville taking over from Hermione, 'then _Tom_ will be able to come back...

'It won't happen yet,' said Hermione. 'Everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of with Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't be able to do anything. Now that we have banished him out of the forest, he will not be able to sustain himself with unicorn blood.

'So he will either give up or do something desperate. Personally I'm betting on the latter,' said Harry making up his mind to remove the stone as soon as possible. The time to wait for a reply from Flamel was over.

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore.

OoOoOoOoOoO

So finally, after exams, power shortages and connection problems this chapter is finished. (African infrastructure is a pain.)

Hope you liked it.

Personally, I think it is probably the lamest and most cliché chapter I have written but oh well, every story needs some kind of overpowered ritual so this was it, using crystal, candle, herbal, rune, tune and blood magic. Hope you noticed the cliché four houses unite boy/ girl aspect also. I just could not resist using it. lol. I think that I read way too much fanfiction.

That is it for now. Please_ review_ and let me know what you think.

_Amberile_

Thanks:

CHEESE PLEASE, Ciroth, mon94key, Enkindu, killroy777,Su-33, GodricsPhoenix, JMMendiola, PapaMidNite, pbdp, Ivanoma, BDSanta2001, emoskater, ZanyMuggle, fudgebaby, 113crc, 2693, Joykohl, Wolf Mazue, David M. Potter, Vermouth, sropike, TheSleepingDragons2144, Marauder-Feathers, Harbinger of Doom, Darkest Melody,Annabel-lurvs-purple, Serafin982, chaosfire999, fattoad,litlittledragon,anaknisatanas,Sylkie,dnd4ever,bluezy261175,EriEka127,kehlencrow, Zaehlas,mekanos, Alorkin, Emma-girl, Azure-x-Rose, writachick, tatewaki2000, hpnut1, Pyro, MrPowell, GuardianOfTheMorningStar, Innortal, emerald lady, Harry-Ginny1234, Skippy Agogo, Bel e Muir, Zeromaru Chaos Mode, Mystical Magician, texasranger10, arjay187, hentai18ancilla, PSTurner


	18. Circular happenings

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thanks to my betas MrPowell, Weasel Debater and Pyro

Here is the next chapter. It took me a bit longer to write that I thought it would but here it his.

**Chapter 17**** Circular happenings**

_"The more things change the more they stay the same."_

Thinking over the past few weeks, Harry could not figure out how he had managed to get through his exams. Sure, he knew the work just fine. After all, it was only first year work, and he and his friends did study a lot. Susan and Terry also joined them in a lot of their study sessions. And Terry, ever the knowledge hungry Ravenclaw, even persuaded them to also teach them some of the stuff they used in the forest. Harry did not mind expanding their little study group, so now there were six students running around the lake in the early mornings.

Yet, through it all he was distracted. After he had banished Voldemort from the forest, he expected the evil spirit to act sooner out of desperation. However, nothing happened. The days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door. Ron and Neville checked up on the "doggie" way to much to leave any doubt. Harry's nightmares also seemed to be a lot more intense after the encounter. Not only was he reliving his old traumatic memories in his dreams, but his imagination was creating new horrifying images of what could have happened to his friends in the forest if his shield failed or the ritual was flawed. His dreams made him determined to keep his friends away from the third floor corridor. Another ill effect of the little trip to the forest was the now familiar stabbing pains in his forehead. Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore and block it out of his head with Occlumency.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams. These had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell. Harry was slightly worried that he would unable to write with those quills. He felt like he was cheating with all the knowledge that he has from his other life. Luckily, there were no problems; it was only his guilty conscious that was bothering him. He sometimes wished he could tell someone everything. A few times, he had actually come close to spilling his secret to McGonagall or Perenelle. Yet, every time he caught himself just in time. This was his burden, his secret. His fight against fate, and he would tell no one.

Just like always, the exams had a practical aspect as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. As an extra treat for the little professor, Harry multiplied his pineapple and let them perform a section out of _Riverdance_. The professor was so pleased that he fell of his stack of books in his excitement.

Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Yet again Harry already knew before hand what the task would be. Just as the last time points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Harry decorated his with the Hogwarts emblem.

Snape, the overgrown bat of the dungeons, made all the first years nervous. It would seem that only Harry's little group of friends were immune to him. Harry could not blame his classmates. He could remember how difficult it was to try to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion while the greasy git was breathing down your neck.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry could not help cheering with the rest. Maybe nothing would happen, school was almost out and Voldy was still unaware that he had already removed the stone. It also did not seem that his friends would be going after the stone so he was starting to relax. Yet he could not prevent the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he left the class.

'That was far easier than I thought it would be,' said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds, 'We needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager.'

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward. To Harry's surprise Ron agreed with her and started a discussion about the different exams and their expected results. They wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of the giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. They smiled at Harry and gave him thumbs up. Then they got evil smirks and started to whisper amongst them selves.

'You know your mom will be ever so pleased that they started to study, but I can't help but be afraid of what they will do with their new found fondness of knowledge.' Harry said to Ron while playing with a bit of grass.

Ron just snorted and started tickling Hermione's ear with a twig.

'Hey, stop it,' she giggled but did not really try stopping her friend. She was clearly enjoying it. Neville just smiled at their antics. But also noticed how tense Harry was.

'No more studying,' Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass, 'You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how brilliant we've done, there's no need to worry at all, you probably got full marks in everything.'

Harry was rubbing his forehead and then gave his friends a little smile.

'Is it still bothering you?' Hermione asked concerned, then sat up to get a closer look at his scar.

'It keeps twitching, but it's not so bad.' Harry assured them. It was clear they did not believe him.

'Go to Madam Pomfrey,' Neville suggested.

'I'm not ill,' said Harry, annoyed, yet also friendly. He was glad that they cared but he was staying as far away from the hospital if he could help it. 'I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming...'

'Is it one of _those _warnings?' Ron asked interested.

Harry just shook his head, cursing the day he started to pretend to be a psychic. 'This is slightly different,' he tried to explain.

'Harry, relax,' Hermione's said, 'the Stone's safe as long as

Dumbledore is around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once; he's not going to try it again in a hurry.' Ron said.

'Yes Goyle will grow a brain before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down.' Neville added.

'I know the stone is safe,' Harry said, but he could not shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to explain this, Hermione said, 'That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one.'

Harry smiled at his study obsessed friend. Unfortunately the unsettled feeling did not have anything to do with work, though. He watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth.

As he was trying to figure out what he was forgetting his friends continued to talk about Fluffy, the stone and Flamel.

'_Maybe I have an appointment that I have for gotten. It is not Dumbledore, already had that one this week. It is not McGonagall. We usually have impromptu meetings whenever we feel it was needed. Mmm…'_

'I still think Flamel is stupid to hide his stone in a school.' Ron said.

'He is not. Flamel is a genius.' Hermione retorted.

Harry once again ignored his friends' bickering and tried to order his thoughts. But his mind was stuck on his friends last words. _'Flamel, Flamel…'_

Meanwhile his friends had moved along and were arguing about a different yet related subject.

'Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore.' Ron said.

'I agree,' said Hermione, 'Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but…'

Harry suddenly jumped to his feet. _'Perenelle Flamel, Harry you are positively the biggest idiot alive.' _He berated himself as he ran into the castle. He was already five minuets late for their appointment. _'I guess this meeting will go slightly different than usual. After all I am going to return her husband's prized possession that I have stolen.' _Harry thought to him self as he ran through the twisting corridors of Hogwarts.

"Where is he going?" said Ron surprised.

'Don't know, maybe it is something that we said.' Neville suggested.

'What was the last thing we talked about before he ran off?' Hermione asked.

'Hagrid and Fluffy.' Ron answered.

'I've just thought of something," said Hermione. She had turned white. 'And I think Harry has also thought of it.' She got up hastily and dragged her friends along. 'We've got to go and see Hagrid, now.'

'Why?' panted Neville, hurrying to keep up.

'Don't you think it's a bit odd,' she said, scrambling up the grassy slope, 'that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't we see it before?'

'What are you talking about?' said Ron, but Hermione, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, did not answer. Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

'Hullo,' he said, smiling. 'Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink? Wer's Arry?'

'Wish I knew,' said Ron, but Hermione cut him off. The half giant was starting to frown.

'Hagrid, we've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?'

'Dunno,' said Hagrid casually, 'he wouldn' take his cloak off.'

He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows. 'It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -- that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up.'

Hermione sank down next to the bowl of peas. 'What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?'

'Mighta come up,' said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember.

'Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy...'

'And did he -- did he seem interested in Fluffy?' Neville asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Now that he realized what Hermione had figured out.

'Well -- yeah -- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –'

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

'I shouldn'ta told yeh that!' he blurted out. 'Forget I said it! Hey -- where're yeh goin'?'

Neville, Ron, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

'We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Neville. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak -- it must've been easy once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane does not stop him.'

'That's not the biggest issue. I think Harry also figured it out and he's gone after the stone. We must try and stop him.' said Hermione. The three friends shared a worried glance they needed to find the headmaster and tell him everything.

'Where's Dumbledore's office?'

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him except for Harry and his weekly visits.

'We'll just have to -' Ron began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

'What are you three doing inside?'

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

'We want to see Professor Dumbledore,' said Hermione, rather bravely, Neville and Ron thought.

'See Professor Dumbledore?' Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. 'Why?'

They swallowed -- now what? They did not want to get Harry in trouble.

'It's sort of secret,' she said, but she wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

'Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,' she said coldly. 'He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.'

'He's gone?' said Ron frantically, 'Now?'

'Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, he has many

demands for his time --'

'But this is important,' said Neville.

'Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic?'

'Look,' said Hermione, throwing caution to the winds, she was worried about Harry. 'Professor -- it's about the Sorcerer's tone and Ha…'

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up.

'How do you know --?' she spluttered.

'That's not important now,' Hermione started to explain. 'But Har…' she cut off when she saw her professors glare.

'Professor, we think – we know -- that Sn- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.' Ron tried to explain. She eyed them with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

'Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,' she said finally. 'I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected.'

'But Professor, Harr...' Neville tried again.

'I know what I'm talking about,' she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. 'I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.'

But they didn't.

'It's tonight,' said Hermione, once she was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. 'Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note; I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up.'

'But what can we do?' asked Neville.

'I don't know but if he finds Harry down there he will kill him. We don't have a choice we go after him.' Hermione said with determination,

'Ok let's…' Hermione gasped. Neville and Ron wheeled round. Snape was standing there.

'Good afternoon,' he said smoothly.

They stared at him.

'You shouldn't be inside on a day like this,' he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

'We were –'Hermione began, without any idea what she was going to say.

'You want to be more careful,' said Snape. 'Hanging around

like this, people will think you're up to something. Oh shame, it looks like one of the dream team is missing. Were ever can he be.' Snape snorted.

The three friends flushed. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

'Be warned, Gryffindors. Do anything stupid and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.'

He strode off in the direction of the staffroom. Out on the stone steps, Ron turned to the others.

'Right, here's what we've got to do,' he whispered urgently.

The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glistening. 'We must first go up to the tower and get Harry's cloak. I don't fancy McGonagall seeing us near the third floor corridor after our little confrontation. I thought she would be a bit more reasonable… anyway… Hermione, you should also get your violin.'

Hermione frowned.

'I know you don't like playing, but at the moment, this is the best we can do. I don't fancy singing that beast to sleep. I recon with my voice it would sooner bite my head of than sleep.' They all chuckled at this especially Neville he still remembered the nasty memory of his friend singing in the shower.

'I think you should also bring some of those muggle things you and Harry use. Could not do harm having a bit more protection.' Neville suggested getting them back on topic. The friends nodded and then sneaked back into the castle.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Earlier, while the Gryffindors were still relaxing under a tree outside by the lake, an old man was sitting in his office thinking about what he had overheard with his snitch the past few weeks. So far, it was the only spying method that the boy had not yet discovered.

What worried him was that the boy was more concerned about his mystery friend Eleanor, fate and some object that he had lost, than the mystery that had his friends so captivated. In fact if it were not for his friends Harry would probably not be interested at all.

Albus thought that the boy would put all his effort into solving the mystery; yet again, he was wrong in predicting Harry's behavior. He needed Harry to face off against the evil in the castle. It was the only way for him to determine once and for all if the boy was evil or not. If the boy joined Voldemort then he would be unable to obtain the stone for his new master and Albus would know to watch the boy and he would double his efforts to lead the boy to the light. He even considered binding the boy to him as his apprentice so that he would be unable to leave the castle without permission.

If Harry resisted the evil, then he would know his efforts were working and he could relax. He would simply return the boy to his relatives. He knew it was an extreme way to test the boy but since every other attempt had failed this was his last resort. He would never forget his first meeting with the boy. He could almost still feel the darkness he saw that day.

The day the boy saw the mirror of Erised was also etched into his memory. Those dead blank eyes as he talk about death and destruction. The boy was more than creepy. Always bouncing from super cheery boy to dark, evil sorcerer. It was almost like a magical bipolar depression. He had read the reports on the boy's exams. He and his friends had received full marks in everything. In all the history of Hogwarts, it had never happened before. No even he had gotten full marks in everything, yet four students had managed it simultaneously.

He knew he was not supposed to listen in on the boy's session with Perenelle but for now it was the only way he could think of to get information. The boy never revealed anything in their weekly chats. Actually, it always felt as if he knew less or that another battle was lost. Just as he picked up his wand to activate the golden ball, an owl arrived with a letter for him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

'Harry, so glad you could make it. I almost thought you forgot about our appointment.' Perenelle greeted warmly.

Harry smiled sheepishly. 'Good day,' he greeted, still not sure how he was going to tell her about the stone.

She saw his embarrassment and smiled lightly. 'So Harry what do you want to talk about today, I heard from Minerva that you are having difficulty with your sleep again.'

Harry just nodded then answered, 'Yes but there is something else I need to talk to you about.'

She inwardly frowned; unwillingness to talk about the problem was never a good sign. She knew Minerva thought that his dreams were some kind of manifestation of his seer abilities. However, something just did not fit; she just could not put the finger on it.

'Right, what devious scheme have you cooked up this time?' She asked to break the ice. She could see he was nervous about what he was about to say. A brief smile crossed his face before he got the intense serious expression again.

'It is funny but it just clicked that your surname is Flamel.' said Harry. She just nodded not sure, where this was going.

'I have been trying to make contact with him for ages and all I really had to do was ask you to give him a message.'

'So those letters to Nicolas were actually from you. We thought it was just one of those, oh what are they called these days, groupies is it? Yes, we thought it was just one of those obsessed groupies annoying us again.'

'I figured that was the case, it tends to happen to well known people.'

She smiled at how lightly Harry put it. She had no doubt that the famous boy got a fair share of weird mail from crazy fans.

'Anyway, I stopped writing and just went and retrieve the stone myself.'

She gasped in surprise. How ever did he mange to get past everything? Albus had assured her and Nicolas that every precaution was taken. The boy just kept on amazing her every time they met. He was a lot more powerful than she initially guessed

'Tells you a lot about the great Albus Dumbledore's security measures, if a first year can go in, steal the stone, get out and it is not discovered for a few weeks.' Harry said bitterly. He always suspected everything was not as it seemed. He just never could figure out what it was.

'A _mild_ understatement.' she asked with an amused smile, the sarcasm shining in her eyes, then asked. 'So where is the stone now?'

'Oh it is safely hidden, do you want me to go and get it for you.'

'No you can keep that one. Nic and I were a bit skeptical when Alby insisted we give him the stone, so we gave him a dilute one that looks real but doesn't really do anything but produce Leprechauns gold.'

Harry's breath caught and he felt a bit dizzy for a moment. He had almost died in his other life, protecting a fake stone. Fate and her cruel sense of humor had struck again. He stared to laughing hysterically. The irony of it all was just too much, and the best part was that Dumbledore and Voldemort never knew that the stone was not truly destroyed. Nicolas and his wife probably just assumed new identities and went on living their lives happily with out a concern for the war.

'Harry, are you okay?' a worried Perenelle asked.

Harry just took a deep breath to calm him self and nodded.

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, I… it just so funny how fate screws with my life. If I knew it was a fake I would just have left it for old Voldy to find. Can you imagine his face? It would have been hilarious.'

'I still don't know why you are so eager to defy fate, why don't you just flow with her. It would be so much easier.'

Harry just snorted and changed the subject. 'So how are things going with Eleanor?'

'She is so excited for the holidays to begin. So far she has made a lot of progress; however we have decided that things would go a lot faster if she comes and stay with me this holiday.'

'I am so glad to hear that. I would really have missed her if she could not come to Hogwarts next year. I guess not seeing her for a few months is a small price to pay for the years together that will follow.' Harry said with a smile.

'If you would like, you could come visit. You could also even stay if you like. My Nicolas would not mind taking you on as an apprentice. It has been years since we last had young people in our home.'

Harry just stared at her too shock to say anything. She had just offered him and apprentice ship with Nicolas Flamel one of the most powerful wizards on earth and the best Alchemist ever. It was unbelievable. '_Why did great things like this never happen in my other life?'_

She took his silence as uncertainty, 'If you think your guardians would mind I could go and talk with them.'

Harry just laughed at that, 'I don't think they would mind, my aunt would be thrilled to get her cupboard back. The only problem I can foresee is the bloodwards fading. As annoying as Dumbledore is and regardless of all his mistakes, he was right about the power of those wards. I think about two week there would be enough to recharge them, then I would be more than happy to come visit you and see how Eleanor is doing.'

The old women just smiled at the young boy. She knew that healers should not get too personally involved with their clients. But she saw Harry more like a friend than a patient. He also never agreed to therapy only friendship so technically se was not overstepping boundaries, yet she hope what she was doing was right. She was glad that she was able to give him an alternative to the care of his relatives.

Harry had never told her anything explicit about their treatment of him, yet there were subtle hints every now and then that Harry did not even realize he gave away. She knew he hardly spend any time at home before he came to Hogwarts and a cupboard had come up a few times. She still did not figure out were it fit into the picture but he definitely had issues about it. The more she got to know this young man the more she started to resent her old friend Albus. He had made a huge mistake with this boy and he did not ever realize it yet.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Draco was starting to get really worried. It was almost the end of the school year and he still had not managed to complete his father's task. He did not even want to think what his father would do to him if he found out of his failure. To top it all he knew the little mudblood did better than him in the exams. That would only add to his punishment.

Most people thought that he worshiped his father. After all, he always spoke proudly of him. The truth was he hated the man. There was no description of how deep his loathing went. He had realized a long time ago that he would never be able to please the man. For his own survival he had to act the perfect adoring and loving son. The prince of Slytherin, a dark wizard in training. But he wished there were more to life than this. In the beginning he hated Potter for the humiliation he put him through. After all this time of spying on him and his friends he hated him for a totally different reason. He and his friends were free and happy. Something he would never be.

It was bad enough that he would be punished for receiving another detention. A good Slytherin was never caught. If his father were ever to find out that he helped Potter to banish the Dark Lord out of the forest he knew he would be dead the next day. He was also starting to doubt if he even wanted to serve the Dark Lord. That thing in the forest was not the glorious leader his father always spoke about.

He would just have to lie. He would tell his father that he had succeeded but that nothing has happened as of yet and that they would have to wait 'till next year to see what happen to Potter. Hopefully his father would believe him and he would survive this break without too much injury.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Luckily the common room was deserted. Everyone was outside celebrating the end of the exams.

'We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us.' said Ron. They were luck that the cloak was in Harry's bedside cabinet and not his trunk or it would have been impossible to get it out. They hastily threw it on and left the tower. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them. Although it was not curfew yet they were nervous of being found with an invisibility cloak. At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.

'Oh, let's kick her, just this once,' Ron whispered in Neville's ear. Unfortunately Hermione also heard him and glared and him. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamp like eyes on them, but didn't do anything.

They didn't meet anyone else until the entire way they were relived that they did not meet Peeves. The poltergeist was probably annoying the teachers because all the other castle occupants were outside enjoying the day.

They were there, outside the third-floor corridor -- and the door was already ajar.

'Well, there you are,' Ron said quietly, 'Harry's already got past Fluffy. Hopefully we can get to him before Snape.

Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Neville turned to the other two.

'Do you want to go back, maybe we should try and convince a teacher again?' he said.

'Don't be stupid, if McGonagall won't listen to us, no one will. Let's do this, Harry needs us,' said Ron.

'Let's go.' said Hermione while squeezing her two friends hands nervously. She then pushed the door open.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

'What's that at its feet?' Neville whispered.

'Looks like a harp.' said Ron.

'That's not good, Harry doesn't play the harp, and Snape must have left it there. We got to hurry.'

'It must wake up the moment you stop playing,' said Neville.

'Well, here goes...' said Hermione as she quickly got out her violin and started a broken tune. It wasn't really any good, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Ron drew a relieved breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased -- it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

'Keep playing,' Ron warned as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.

'I think we'll be able to pull the door open,' said Ron, peering over the dog's back. 'Want to go first, Neville?'

Neville's face got a bit paler and shook his head.

'All right.' Ron gritted his teeth, gathering courage. He was equally unwilling to be first. He stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

'What can you see?' Hermione said anxiously while still playing.

'Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop.'

Neville walked cautiously over to Ron, 'Do you think our cushioning charm will make it all the way down there? I have no desire to splatter myself.'

Ron's face got a bit green and the white again and nodded vigorously. Clearly trying to convince him self. 'If Harry made it down there then we can do it.' He said as he shot a few charms down the hole. Hoping to Gaia that it would work and that they would not fall to death.

Ron climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Neville and said, 'If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?'

'Shouldn't we have done that from the start?'

'Too late for it now. Harry is down there with Snape hot on his tail.' said Ron.

'Right,' Neville nodded. Although this year with his friends had done a lot for his confidence he still had ten years of inferiority complex that was influencing him and he could not help not feeling as brave as his friends seemed to him. He knew he would never have had the guts to go first.

'See you in a minute, I hope...' Ron said putting on a brave front for his friends. With out Harry to take the lead he was stuck with the job and he now realize that he did not enjoy it nearly as much as he thought he would. He wondered how many times Harry pretended to be fine just for the benefit of the group. He was looking at his friend in a totally different light now. He hesitated for only a second longer and then he let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down –bounce- and FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft, after the cushioning charm broke his initial fall. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.

'It's okay!' he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, 'it's a soft landing, you can jump! The charm wasn't even needed; there is something squishy down here.'

Neville followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Ron.

'What's this stuff?' Ron asked.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing, I'll be able to identify it if you light your wand. I suppose it's here to break the fall.'

'Come on, Hermione!' they both called. The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Ron's other side.

'We must be miles under the school,' she said.

'Lucky this plant thing's here, really,' said Ron but then realize he was in trouble when he was unable to get to his wand to make a light for Neville. Hermione shrieked as the vines also started to rap around her. She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She thrashed about trying to free her ankles that the plant started to twist snakelike tendrils around. As for Neville and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing. Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

'Stop moving!' Neville ordered them when he realized what plant it was, 'I know what this is -- it's Devil's Snare!'

Ron immediately stopped his struggle. They had read about this plant and he knew that struggling would only kill then faster. He and Neville were in thought spot. They were both unable to get to their wands.

'Hurry up, I can't breathe!' Ron gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.

'Use _Lumos Solem!_' Neville breathed, trying his best to stay calm.

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, she was so tense she did not even think about using her wand. She muttered something, and sent a jet off flames at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.

'Lucky we pay attention in Herbology,' Neville sighed with relieve.

'That was bloody brilliant. I love it when you and Harry do wandless stuff.' Ron said as he joined Hermione by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

Hermione just surged of the complement, 'Neville played the biggest part. It is good we have out own plant expert with us.'

'This way,' said Ron, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward. All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward.

'Can you hear something?' Neville whispered.

Hermione listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.

'Do you think it's a ghost?'

''Mione you know ghost can't do anything.'

'I know, it just a muggle thing, can't help it.'

'Sounds like wings to me,' said Neville, 'There's light ahead. I can see something moving.'

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.

'Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?' asked Neville.

'Probably,' said Ron, 'They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run.'

He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked. The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm.

'Now what?' said Ron.

'These birds... they can't be here just for decoration,' said Hermione. They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering?

'They're not birds!' Neville said suddenly. 'They're keys! Winged keys, look carefully. So that must mean...' he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. '... yes -- look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!'

'But there are hundreds of them!' Ron examined the lock on the door. He then walked over to the brooms.

'Ron, don't touch the brooms. It could be a trap. It seems too easy, why would the brooms be here. This is supposed to be a gauntlet to prevent thieves why would there be brooms. I think we should think of a different way to get the key.'

'How will we even figure out which one is the correct one.' asked Neville as he stared up at the golden flying mass.

'We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one, probably silver, like the handle.' Hermione said after inspecting the lock again.

'We don't have time for this. We should just use the brooms.' A frustrated Ron said. He was starting to get really worried about Harry.

'Ron if we spend just a minute thinking it through we could actually save ourselves some time. You know that patience is a virtue, use is.'

'Don't get nasty, I get it...'

'I'm sorry Ron, I'm worried also, but Harry always said that the most important him in a tough situation was to you're your head.'

'I wished that he used his before he came running down here.' Neville muttered under his breath.

'What you recon we should use?' Ron asked his two friends.

'Don't know maybe a summoning charm?' Neville suggested.

'It is worth a try,' Hermione said while pointing her want at

a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.

'_Accio!_'

But nothing happened; the keys were protected against summoning. Clearly Flitwick did some decent charm work.

'We could always blast the key out of the air,' Ron suggested.

'We we cant risk damaging it,' said Hermione.

'Don't you have any alternative stuff that could work?' asked Neville.

'I don't think so.' said Hermione while rummaging through her bag trying to see if there was anything useful.

'Are you sure we shouldn't use the brooms?' Ron asked.

'Positive, they could be cursed or something. Anyway none of us are good enough flyers to catch the keys.'

Ron had to agree with his friend, although he was a pretty good flyer he did not have the co-ordination to steer a broom at high speed while trying to catch something.

Hermione started to pace trying to think of something. Harry was her very best friend and she did not know what she would do if anything were to happen to him.

She suddenly got a smile on her face, 'Oh it is so simple, no wizard will think of it.'

Neville smiled at his friend, she had no idea how funny yet scary she looked when she got one of her ideas.

'_Finite Incantatem_!' she shouted while pointing at the key.

'You got to bee joking.' Ron said as the key fell to the ground. Neville stretched out his hand and caught it.

'Simple, yet effective.' Hermione smirked.

Neville pushed it into the lock and turned… it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered.

'Ready?' Neville asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Neville, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly -- the towering white chessmen had no faces.

'Now what do we do?' Neville whispered. He was starting to get tired and he was feeling sick with worry. He had no idea how Harry could have made it this far on his own.

'It's obvious, isn't it?' said Ron. 'We've got to play our way across the room.'

Behind the white pieces they could see another door.

'How?' asked Hermione nervously.

'I think,' said Ron, 'we're going to have to be chessmen.' He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.

'Do we -- er -- have to join you to get across?' The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.

'This needs thinking about he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces...'

Neville and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, 'Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess –'

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry walked up to the common room with a smile. His holiday break would be more fun than he originally anticipated. The only problem he had was that he would not be spending as much time with master Li as he wanted. Perenelle reassured him that he would be able to go to his master for his daily lesson. She said something about common curtsey among masters.

A master could not interfere with the training of another master's apprentice. Since Master Li was Harry's first mentor he had the right to outrank Nicolas regardless of his lack of magical power. Also, if Nicolas officially took Harry on as his apprentice the restriction of under age magic would not apply to him. Harry was not too bothered about the restriction, after all he had been violating it for years, but it would be nice to do magic legally. Eleanor would definitely benefit from her apprenticeship with Perenelle. Harry knew her family name would make it difficult for her in Hogwarts. With the protection of the Apprentice bond and the status of Lady Flamel things would go a lot better for his young friend.

Another interesting thing was that Dumbledore would never be able to make Harry his Apprentice. Apparently a person could only be magically bound to one master at a time. The only reason that Nicolas was able to make him as apprentice was because Master Li did not and could not perform the bonding ritual. So only if and when Harry's apprenticeship ended with Flamel could Dumbledore try and convince Harry to become his. And even then master Li and Nicolas would outrank Dumbledore because he was the third in line.

Another huge perk was that Harry was exempt from Hogwarts rules. Technically he would not be a student anymore. However, Harry decided it would be better to continue with his normal schooling. No one needed to know about his apprenticeship. It could be a useful advantage.

It saddened Harry to realize how bad his relationship with the headmaster was. In his previous life he would have given anything to become Dumbledore's apprentice. To know that the headmaster were proud enough of him to make him his own. Now he was actually happy and relieved that it could not happen.

However the excitement outweighed the sadness. He would be able to work on difficult magic and learn new things. Not the boring repetitive things he was stuck with while at Hogwarts. He could even start working on a mastery if he chose to do it. He only whished Hermione had the same opportunity. He knew she would have loved to learn extra things outside of the Hogwarts curriculum.

Harry looked around the common room but could not find his friends. He ran up to their dormitory but only dean and Seamus was there. Seamus looked a bit tipsy. Harry really did not want to know where a first year got alcohol from. If ever there was an alcoholic in the making then his dorm mate was definitely one. He pushed that thought out of his mind and ran back down to the common room. He found the twins planning their end of year prank. From the plans it seems like it would be a doozy.

They smirked at him with bright evil eyes, as if to thank him for leading them to the darkness. He shook his head to get rid of that disturbing thought.

'Have you seen my friends around?' Harry asked.

Fred picked up an innocent piece of parchment up from the table and muttered something. He kept it out of view from Harry.

'It would seem that they have followed in our illustrious footsteps.' Fred answered with a smile.

Harry looked at him confused. So George explained.

'They are either exploring an uncharted area of the castle or they have managed to sneak out.'

'Of course they could just be plain stupid and got lost down a secret passage way.' Fred added.

Harry did not laugh at their joke. He felt like losing his lunch. His friends were stupid enough to go after the stone with out him. He wondered what in blazes they were thinking, doing something so incredibly idiotic. _'Oh Fate, you are such a bitch,' _he thought to him self. '_She just had to find a way to get me down there to fight with Voldy, and the bitch is using my friends as bait!' _

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

'What do you recon's next?' Ron asked. This time, he was lucky enough to have survived the chessboard without injury.

'We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's.'

They took a minute to take a beep breath. Ron's hands were still a bit shaky. He had nearly got himself killed playing his favorite game. In future he would definitely be seeing it through different eyes. Being the one being smashed weren't nearly as fun as watching the pieces thrash each other. They had reached another door.

'All right?' Neville whispered, 'Go on.'

Ron pushed it open. A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

'I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one,' Neville whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs.

'Come on, I can't breathe,' said Hermione while trying to hold her nose and moth close with her hand.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was a windy overcast day and the waves were crashing against the rocks. Salt sprayed into the air. The old man ignored it all and with his cane in one hand and his guide dog's leach in his other, he followed the boatman to the gate of the fortress. As they neared the entrance, a shiver ran up his spine and his breath misted in front of his face. However, the blind old man just shuffled ahead.

'Who goes there?' one of the few human guards on the island asked.

'My name is John Doegal; I am here to confront my daughter's murder before I die. I need to have closure.'

The guard did not ask any more questions for him it sounded like a reasonable enough explanation. Seeing the old frail blind man he did not even follow normal procedure to make sure that the story checked out and that the man was who he said. He did not even check his list to see if the ministry cleared the visit. He led the old man and his black guide dog to the prisoner's cell and then waited outside. He knew how personal confrontations like these were. The only regulation he followed was to keep the old mans wand. He knew the prisoner was too weak to do anything to the old man, but it was best to not tempt fate. Just as a precaution, he placed a monitoring spell on the old man. If he felt threatened at any time, an alarm would go off.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry never knew he could run this fast. Not even while fleeing death eaters did he manage the speed he had now. The only thought on his mind was saving his friends.

Fluffy did not even have the chance to realize that someone had entered the room before Harry had already jumped down the trapdoor. As Harry fell he quickly cast a _solaris_ charm followed by a cushioning charm. He barley hit the ground before he started running again. As he ran into the room with fluttering keys he held out his hand and summoned the key. Not even realizing that he was overpowering all of the Charms Master's spells wandlessly.

With one _Reducto maximus_ the chess set was history. And he did not even spare a glance at the unconscious troll as he ran pass. He hoped with all his heart he would be on time.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Happy New Year to all my readers and I hope this year treats you well. Harry desperately also hope so, but the poor bloke don't know what I have planed for him. lol

I think I used a bit too much canon in this chapter but it just seems to fit so I will leave it like this. (If I had to change it, it would take longer to update.)

Anyway review and let me know what you think. I know I took long to answer this time but I was away and without access for a long time. Anyway, will try to do better this time.

To anyone how have ever worked at a day care center, my deepest respect. Two weeks of it and I am exhausted and scared of just looking at kids. lol.

Thanks:

Bobmin356, Dark Lord Of Ori, wwwendy, shankstar89, sropike, GodricsPhoenix, Twin Tails Speed, SilentWhisperWolf, Niffler41, ludifig, IReadOnly, jojobevco, SFD, dawnstar28, House of Awesome, hpfananita, Ellyanah, Tabbycat1220, pottersparky, zafaran, 00asianwriter00, MistyMossflower, Alorkin, pbdp, Lia3, txcalbud, beriothien, hash4uall, Curtis Ownby, fattoad,TheSleepingDragons2144, wolfrose89, stoictimer ,Ninkasi, The French DarkLord, Wolfric, Enkindu, SilverSparklze, WJENKSREADER, Bobboky, bandgsecurtiyaw, PapaMidNite, David305, hpnut1, Cheezewizz, Azure-x-Rose; Kortir, BDSanta2001, mare12a, emerald lady, Annabel-lurvs-purple, Weasel Debater, Innortal, MrPowell, 2693, mon94key, Silver Warrior, SpectreSpook, ZanyMuggle, Aki no Yume1,Harbinger of Doom, TricaLee;


	19. The greatest escape and a lot of thought

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

_**Author note**__: After a long time and a lot of requests I am finally going over my story and fixing some of the mistakes. So let me know if there is something I need to change in the previous chapter so I know to look at it. Thanks._

Huge thanks to everyone that reviewed. I am sorry that I did not have the time to answer you all. Your support have meant a lot to me in this busy time.

**Lot's of thanks to my betas. **_**FairyMei33 and Pyro**_

**Chapter 18. The greatest escape and a lot of thoughts.**

Remus shivered the moment the steel door banged closed behind him. His acute werewolf senses protested to the awful smell assaulting his nostrils. He was appalled to see his once friend in a decrepit, filthy heap, laying in the fetal position rocking him self and muttering incoherently. Sirius was not even aware that someone had entered his cell. Remus wanted to run over to his friend. He wanted to comfort him, help him, and free him. But he held himself in check; he could not let his feelings rule his actions. He would have to verify if Sirius was indeed innocent first.

He quickly pulled out his second wand hidden from the seam of his coat. Before he came here to execute this insane plan – a plan that could possibly land him in a cell next to his friend - he made a visit to Knockturn Ally. There, he bought an illegal second wand that was unregistered. He also bought a mild truth potion. It was nowhere near as effective as Veritaserum, but it was the only thing he could afford with his limited finances. Sirius would be able to refuse to answer but be unable to lie. The hardest part in his preparations was to transfigure a rock into a dog that looked exactly like Sirius. The plan was to switch the two if his friend was indeed innocent. He had to try it about ten times before he got it a hundred percent right. Some of his earlier attempts made a perfect likeness, but it was completely inanimate, or dead. Giving something dead life was almost impossibly difficult. His later attempts were perfect, but after an hour they would spontaneously revert to their previous form. The best he could manage was a transfiguration that lasted for eight hours. He hoped that would be enough to make a clean getaway.

Sirius was in no condition to answer questions. Remus was afraid he would kill his friend if he gave him the truth potion in this condition. First he stunned his friend, he was unsure how Sirius would act the moment he realized there was someone inside the cell with him. He quickly then cast a Scourgify on the man and the cell, as he simply could not handle the stench. Next, he forced a nourishment and Pepper-Up potion down his friend's throat, gently massaging his Adams apple to stimulate the swallow reflex. He followed with a bit of melted chocolate. He waited a few seconds for the potions to start working and then dosed his friend with the truth potion.

Remus was feeling really anxious, this was taking longer that he had planned and was afraid the guard would interrupt before he was done. So far he was extremely lucky and he was waiting for the luck to run out.

He checked his friends pulse and quickly levitated him into a position that would make it easier to interrogate him. He then bound him with ropes just as a precaution.

"Enervate!" he said.

Sirius woke up looking disorientated, scared and confused.

"Who..?" Sirius croaked, his voice unused of normal speak except for the occasional mutter.

"It is not important who I am. You need to answer my questions," Remus answered. He still had his disguise of a blind old man on. He did not want to risk taking it of. He reasoned that it would be better if his friend thought it was a stranger interrogating him. It would save time by preventing emotional outbreaks. If Sirius was innocent, there would be time for reunions later.

"Are you a Death Eater?" Remus asked in a cold voice, steeling him self. Internally he was praying to every deity that ever existed that his once best friend would answer no.

Sirius looked surprised at the question. He answered negatively with tears in his eyes. It was clear that he thought he would not be believed.

Remus breath hitched. It was horrifying to realize that this man had spent so many years in this dreadful place for a crime he did not commit. But Remus wanted to be double sure he was not freeing a guilty man and continued with the interrogation.

"Did you betray James and Lily to the Dark Lord?"

Sirius broke out in heart wrenching sobs again. "I as good as killed them…"

Remus almost stopped breathing, but then Sirius continued and explained about the swap and the rat's betrayal.

Remus knew about everything, but it was still shocking to have it all confirmed in this way. He felt a moment of anger towards Dumbledore, who would almost undoubtedly not believe him. Remus had one final question to ask before he would make up his mind of what he would do.

"Did you kill Peter and those muggle when you confronted the rat?"

Sirius just shook his head rocking himself as he sobbed.

"I need a verbal answer," Remus demanded. He could not take chances.

"No, it was the rat, the bloody rat, if I could get my hands on him…" Sirius answered violently. His emotions were all over the place. He did not know who this man questioning him was, but he was almost afraid to hope that someone would finally believe him. He was sad, angry, scared, glad, confused, hopeful and skeptical. He could not cope with all these emotions. For the past ten years he only knew despair.

"Okay Sirius; I believe you," Remus said gently.

Sirius could hardly believe his ears. For a moment, he thought this was some kind of cruel illusion and that he had finally lost his mind.

"I am going to get you out of here, but you have to listen to me carefully. This is going to be risky. I'm breaking you out."

Sirius stared dumbly at the old man. Maybe he was not the only insane one. No one could escape this place, it was impossible.

"Sirius I need you to transform."

'_Who is this man and how does he know about my other form_,' He thought.

"Quickly we don't have a lot of time."

Sirius just did as he was told as he was too overwhelmed to think what he was doing. Remus transfigured some of the straw that served as bedding into a pile of rags that at a glance would look like a rumpled body huddled in the corner. He stunned his transfigured rock, removed the collar and leash, and then covered it with the rags. He then replaced the collar and leash on his friend. Sirius looked even sicker in his dog form. Remus could see every rib and sharp bone. This would never do. He cast a quick glamour on the man-dog and hoped to Merlin that they would not be found out.

When everything was ready, he knocked in the door to summon the guard. He quickly resumed the role of helpless old blind man. The guard did not even spare a glance at the heap that he assumed was the prisoner. He returned the confiscated wand and helped to guide Remus out of the prison and even helped him and his guide dog into the waiting boat.

When Remus and his "dog" reached the other shore, they quickly found a deserted alley. Sirius transformed, but was speechless. He could not believe that they had done it. He was finally free! He still did not know who the old man was or why he'd helped him, but he would be forever grateful and in his debt. Sirius sagged to the ground, now that the adrenalin wore off, his weak body gave in. Remus realized that he needed to get his friend into a bed; he had ten years of damage to recover from. Remus grabbed his weak friend and sidelong apparated with him to master Li's house.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Master Li just shook his head when the two men appeared in his living room. His solitary existence had ended the day he met Harry in his gardens. Now, it seemed, he was running a sanctuary for the destitute. He helped Remus to get his friend to the room that they had prepared.

Remus striped his friend and cast another cleaning charm on him. He could take a shower later after a good rest. He then helped him into pajamas. Through it all, Sirius protested that he could do it himself, but the two "old men" did not want to hear anything about it. He was forced into bed and given a sleeping draught. He was too worn out to argue, so he gave in and follow their orders. He would find out who they were and where he was when he woke up. For now, he would enjoy his first nap in ten years, in a soft bed.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Eleanor was anxiously waiting for her uncle Mooney's return. Was her father really innocent? Did the breakout plan work? Would she finally meet her father? So many questions! The waiting was killing her. She tried to calm herself with some of the techniques Perenelle showed her but nothing seemed to work. She could not concentrate or focus long enough for it to be effective.

She heard a light knock on the door. Timidly, she answered it. The moment she saw Remus in the doorway she almost bowled him over, rapidly firing him with questions.

"Calm down my little flower," he said while giving her a hug. He was one of the few people that she allowed to touch her. Remus did not know why, but, maybe she was familiar with his feelings, or that his wolf side blocked some of the brunt of the raw emotions. He had never asked, he was just glad she trusted him this much.

"Your dad is in his room, but he is very tired and he is asleep. I did not have time to tell him about you so you will have to wait just a little bit more until you can meet him."

"He will be all right, won't he?" she asked anxiously.

"He will be just fine. He just need a bit of rest and a lot of love," Remus said.

She laughed and gave the old wolf another hug. "Uncle Moony, you look silly being that old; I like you better when you're normal."

Remus just shook his head, glad that he could reassure his "foster niece". He then took out his wand and removed the charms. He then drank a counter polyjuice potion as he'd had a double disguise on, just in case.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"My Lord, I have just returned from my travels and have information that would interest you."

The Lord sat impatiently on his dark throne. After all these centuries, the decadence of his imperial palace had lost its beauty to him. He tapped his fingers on the golden armrest. Listening to his minion's reports all night was tiresome. He longed for the days of his youth when he was only a few centuries old and his kind could go out hunting without fear of persecution.

"I was exploring a forest in Scotland when I unexpectedly discovered an elfin strong hold."

This perked his interest; the elves had been an annoyance to him for centuries. Especially their queen. She always acted so superior. Never conceding that there were other immortals sharing supremacy on this planet. The last time that they had met, four centuries ago, she insulted him by stating that an animated corpse could not possibly be considered a true immortal.

She was so convinced of her goodness and her pure light. He knew better. There had to be darkness for light to exist. There had to be balance and harmony. He wondered why the annoying woman allowed his minion into her camp to spy on her. He had no illusions about it. If she did not want to be found, she wouldn't. This was all a game to her. She was taunting him with some information, some tidbit to irritate him. He was almost sure that somewhere in his castle at this very moment was a bleeding elf spying on him to report his reaction to that stupid creature of light. He wondered for how many centuries this petty game would last. Then again, things did get a bit boring after a millennium or two, so maybe this little game could get fun.

"…she mad a prophecy of sorts to a mortal boy," his minion reported. That got his interest and he concentrated more on it. He waved his hand in a gesture for his servant to continue.

"_Six firm friends stand at your side_

_Seven strong fight for the light_

_When all around you darkness closes_

_Think of the power friendship poses._

_In magic means this must manifest_

_To rid the world of the darkening pest_

_A talisman is yours to find_

_In essence, one, in truth divided_

_This talisman, to unite your side_

_Will reveal the love you hide_

_Unite in friendship, love and trust_

_Search for this relic, you must_

_Do not be blinded by your past_

_In pain and bitterness, none lasts_

_Rejoice and sing this second time_

_And fight for truth with love benign_

_Don't worry child, about your fate_

_And sleep now child, your friends await."_

He stated to laugh, the poor mortal fool. He had no idea how misleading that little song could be. It seemed straightforward yet there was a catch, a huge catch. '_When_ _all around you darkness closes_' he mused on these words. Oh she was a tricky one. That was why she let his spy in. She needed him, but was too stuck up to ask him. He wondered if she let the other beings know, or if she would leave it all up to the poor boy to figure out how to get the crystals. This could very well prove to be amusing.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Oh Zal not all humans are like that. What more can I do to convince you."

"Humans only use us and then discard us like old socks."

"My Harry is not like that. He rescued me from that awful place."

"…and now you're his little pet, bound to do his bidding," the basilisk childishly hissed.

"No, you have not been listening. He is my friend." The huge snake gave a hiss that almost sounded like a snort.

"Well if you are going to be that way, I'm leaving," Amberile hissed, fed up with trying to reason with the stubborn reptile.

"No, don't go!" Zally hissed. Amberile just looked at her pointedly. "Okay fine, I'll meet with your human." The little red snake still had a strict gaze. "And I won't eat, maim, kill or petrify him; happy?" she hissed sulkily.

"Extremely, it only took me a few months to convince you. I think you and Harry would get along just fine. You both possess that _good_ quality."

"No need to be insulting," Zally hissed, not liking being compared to a human in any way.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Nicolas was sitting in his lab, tinkering with a muggle invention trying to let it work with magic. The wizards in Europe were so closed minded that they would be horrified at this idea. Nicolas thought it would be great to have a computer to store all the date of his research on. After a few centuries, his lab seemed a bit cluttered. Actually, the whole mansion was cluttered with odd nick knacks. The place looked like this and there were only two people living here. He could not imagine what a mess it would be if the kids arrived. He really did not have the endurance to take on another kid with starlight in his eyes and dreams of glory. The last apprentice that he had was young Alby and that was more than a hundred years ago and he was already a grown man when he annoyed him until he agreed. He still got nauseous at the mention of lemon candy. Nicolas did not know if he would have the patience to work with a twelve-year old. On the other hand, after all this time living with Perenelle, he had learned not to argue. The least he could do was to at least talk with the boy before he declined. Then again, if the boy was really as powerful as his wife claimed, it could be a fun challenge.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

One Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, was a very frustrated spirit. The one source that was sustaining him had been taken away from him by a group of children. He still did not know how it happened, but he would find out. It would seem that there was a powerful form of magic that he had not heard of before. The moment he got his body back, he would find out how to use it. He had been arrogant before his fall and underestimated his opponent. He would not make the same mistake. If only he could find better servants. Quirrell was a bumbling idiot. For the past hour he'd been staring into that mirror, unable to find the blasted stone. Voldemort knew this was his only chance. His host was dying without the unicorn blood to prolong his life. Luckily, Quirrell did not realize it; he did not have the patience to deal with a hysterical host. If only they could figure out how to get to the stone. Oh, he hated Dumbledore and his childish riddles.

OoOoOoOoOoO

As Hermione crossed the room with the dead troll, she could not help imagining that it was Harry lying there with a dent in his head. She took a deep breath to steel herself for the next challenge. Harry had been her best friend, her first friend. In fact he had been her only friend until she'd come to Hogwarts. She could not believe he was so stupid to run of on his own and into this mad adventure. But something had been off with him since that day in the forest. He was even more paranoid than usual and he constantly had a headache. Today he was just totally distracted and edgy. She knew he had special abilities to divine the future, she just wished she could understand it better. She had read up on it after Harry told them about his gift, but none of the books described it like Harry did. He also did not act like the books described seers. Everything in his behavior was just a little bit off. She never realized it really, because he had always acted like this and she was used to it. Yet, now that she had other friends to compare the behavior with, she knew her friend was not totally normal. As the year progressed, it became clearer that Harry was hiding a lot of things from her. She suspected a lot more than she originally thought. She wondered what drove her friend. He was always trying to push them to their limits so that they could do the best they could. Be the best they could. Yet, despite his drive, he did not crave power. Despite her worry for his safety, she was also a bit angry at him. The whole year he feigned disinterest and tried to dissuade them getting involved, and then, he runs off, pulling a stunt like this.

Just as she reached the entrance to the next room, she heard a call for her to stop. Ron froze in the doorway, blocking her view. She heard quick footsteps running towards them. She did not know if she should enter the next room or await this new danger.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Albus Dumbledore was on his way to the ministry. He was traveling there on the slow way because he was not particularly happy about having to meet with Cornelius. The thestral was beating its wings slowly, yet powerfully. He also needed the time to clear his head. Running a school was not as easy as it looked. The only thing that was annoying him was that he had forgotten to activate the snitch before he left. He needed to know what his young charge was up to. The time of the ultimate test was near and he needed to be there to observe it. Just as that thought crossed his mind, a sudden realization struck him. If anyone had been up there with the old headmaster in the air, they would have been scandalized by the string of curses he let loose as he turned his steed around.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Harry saw his friends on the other side of the room. Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he registered the bad smell, but he paid it no attention. He ran up to his friends while screaming for them to stop. As he neared his friends, he started to decrease speed. Unfortunately, the floor was very slippery and he started to skid. His friends were staring at him with dumbfounded faces. He bowled the whole group over and they fell right into the next room. The moment they were inside the room, walls of flame sprang up around them.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Hi everyone. I know this chapter was not what you expected it to be, but after all the reviews telling me that I am evil I decided to be mean Mahahahahaha! Next up will be the big Voldy confrontation.

Important notice: Updates will be a lot slower from now on. I am still trying to find my feet with my post-grad studies. Psychometrics is a lot more work than I initially thought it would be.

I have also moved out of my parents home so only have access to fanfiction net on weekends when I visit. So will only update on weekends. (uni has blocked that site. Too many students were reading instead of researching and studying. They don't like it if you use their computers for fun stuff like fiction.lol)

To crow it all South Africans have a new problem called load sharing; it basically means that for approximately three hours a day I don't have electricity. So I could be busy happily typing the next chapter, and then, to power goes out and I lose everything not saved. So please be patient. Don't worry, I won't abandon this story; I just don't have as much time to work on it anymore. Think of me in the next two weeks, I won't be sleeping or eating too much. Al least I will lose weight. lol.

Thanks :

Minathia, SapphireEyes08, emeraldice77, killroy777, the Wolf at Bay, JimmyW,messhnhs, HappeeGoLuckee, Tombadgerlock, Weasel Debater, zafaran, Visionofthenight, Padfoot-an-Prongs, dnightshadow13, gymfreak07,Gemini ice 39, pottersparky, Hermione Potter1234, Lady Halaia, ranma hibikiRemusgrl01, Alorkin, madsloth, jojobevco, SimpleSailor, inats92, Ookii Mamoru, pbdp, Ellyanah, Light Lord Cybergate, Dark Lord Of Ori, IReadOnly, SilentWhisperWolf, Wolfric, chazza, Vukk, writachicka, Kortir, Silver Warrior, wsbenge, Su-33, emerald lady, Haeton,BDSanta2001, Juliper,mare12a,MrPowell, Aealket, WJENKSREADER,. The French Dark Lord,Azure-x-Rose,Dwarven HP fan., Tara-Yo, PapaMidNite, FrostyAKF, hpnut1, KikiLala, snow fox2000, DarkRubberNeck, sropike, Annabel-lurvs-purple, Innortal, Twin Tails Speed, Sylkie,

Review!!!!!! Keep me motivated.

_Amberile B-)_


	20. Something wicked this way come

**Chapter 19 Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

_I'm finally back again!!_

_Thanks Pyro my beta._

**Chapter 19 Something wicked this way come**

Sirius was awfully confused. He woke up to find himself in an extremely comfortable bed. An actual bed, not a pile of filthy rags, but an actual bed with clean, soft sheets and a warm blanket. _"Maybe I have finally lost it and this is a product of my now completely insane mind." _He gave a bark of laughter at that thought. _"If I knew insanity would be this comfortable I would have lost my mind years ago." _Yet not everything added up. He could vaguely remember an old man and a dog. He looked around him taking in his new surroundings for the first time. Was it possible that this was all real and not just one of his many dreams? Could it be possible that he was finally free after ten years of needless hell? His mind could almost not process that thought, it was almost too much to hope that he had been rescued. Then suspicions about why, how and who, started to intrude on his elation. He could think of no reason why an unfamiliar old man would go through the trouble and extreme risk of rescuing him, a wizard thought to be a merciless, insane mass murderer. He hoped to the gods above that his would be rescuer was not a dark wizard looking for his assistance in some evil plot or something. Sirius shook his head to clear it; it would not help to jump to conclusions. The room looked friendly enough; there was nothing to indicate that he was in a dark house. His child hood experience was enough for him to instantly identify dark objects and surroundings. Actually now that he was calm enough to look around properly, the room seemed positively muggle. This confused him even more than he was before. Why was he in a muggle house? Before his thought could go on a roll again, the door creaked open. Sirius tried to get up, not wanting to be in a vulnerable position when confronted with an unknown, but he weakly fell back onto the bed.

"Whoa, there Padfoot. It will still be a while before you are well enough to get up." Remus said with a smile. He was relieved to finally see his estrange friend awake. He was starting to worry. Eleanor had almost driven him insane with questions about her father's wellbeing and she was extremely anxious to meet him. He was glad he would finally have the chance to talk with his friend and reunite the two.

"Mooney?" came the weak yet astonished reply of the escaped convict.

"Yes Sirius, it's me." The old wolf smiled back.

"How?"

"I rescued you from that hell the ministry calls a prison."

Tears started to leak from the dog animagus' eyes. He could not help it. After so many years of longing for his friends, of reliving that horrible day, that he lost everything. He was not only free but also with his friend.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, sorry…" he cried over and over, he needed to let his friend know how sorry he was for letting him down for letting them all down. Ten years of reproach and guilt came crashing down. The thought 'if only' ran through his mind.

Remus heart ached to see his friend in such a mess. With out even thinking he was across the room and hugging his distraught friend whispering comforting words. Remus never considered that Sirius would feel guilty about what happened. Yes, he had feared for his friend's sanity but he was not prepared for the crying mess he had in his arms right now. His plan to spring Eleanor on Sirius was instantly forgotten. Things needed to be sorted out, explained and settled, before something as huge as a lost daughter could be added. He knew the little girl would be disappointed but it could be damaging to them both if they were to meet right now. Sirius emotions were way too extreme for the young untrained empathy to handle just yet. He was glad that she would be going away to train her ability. He did not want the girl that he loved as his own to see her father in such a mess. Now the biggest problem was to explain to her why he was keeping her away from her father…

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Dumbledore was urging his steed on to go faster, but the beast would have nothing of it. It just could not go any faster. He looked around to find a good landing spot. He wanted to apparate straight to Hogsmead to save time but the flat areas were teaming with muggles and the areas that weren't inhabit by them were too unstable to land on. He could also not leave a thestral unattended in a muggle area. It was more trouble than it was worth. He once again cursed himself for not activating his snitch. He could not believe that he was so careless. He needed to get down to the third floor as soon as possible. It was imperative that he observe the boys interactions with evil. It was the only way to determine how to help the boy. He needed to get there for the greater good. Everything depended on what happened in that chamber. He also needed to be there to rescue the stone if things came to the worse. He could not believe that he was so easily duped. This year was definitely not a good year for him never before was there a time that he felt so inadequate. All his mistakes was coming back to haunt him and bite him in the ass. He pushed all the negative thoughts out of his mind and focus on getting back to the castle as fast as possible.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Harry!" all tree friends exclaimed in surprise.

Harry did not bother to reply, now that he finally found them some of his anxiety was replace with anger. "What the _Blood Hell_ were you thinking? Have you any idea how absolutely, incredibly stupid it was to come down here! You could have been killed! What were you thinking?" He hissed at his friends, mindful to keep the noise down as not to alert the Dark Lord and his host.

"Calm down, mate…" Ron started but Harry's glare stopped him from continuing.

"Calm down! Calm down, Voldemort is just in the next room and you want me to calm down." He hissed again at his friends softly but he might as well had yelled because the flinched as the venom in his voice. Neville's lip trembled slightly and Ron turned pale. Hermione on the other hand ignored it all and threw herself at the enraged boy.

"Oh Harry," Hermione said while hugging him, instantly calming him down. "We thought you went after the stone and we came to rescue you." She explained quickly before her dark haired friend could continue his rant.

Harry gave a weak laugh. "Seems kind of backwards with me rushing after you to save you," he said softly now that he calmed down.

"Man, I have never seen you that angry, it was scary." Neville said looking at the boy-who-lived through new eyes.

"Sorry about that, but lets talk about it later, lets get out of here before Voldy hears us and comes after us."

"We thought it was Snape." Ron said confused.

"Not now, lets just go, I'll explain it all later."

"But how," asked Hermione looking at the flame wall baring their way.

Harry walked over to the table with the bottles and the clues, quickly scanning the riddle again to make sure he remembered the correct bottles. He handed his bushy friend the potion needed to go back. "This should do the trick," he said with a resigned smile. Fate was again playing with him. There was only enough for his friends to go back, he would have to go on and confront Voldy.

"But Harry?" Hermione said, also realising that tere was not enough for them all. Neville and Ron just looked at the two friends confused now yet figuring the problem out.

"This is my destiny forced on me by fate. I need to go on."

"Harry…" the girl began again. "I won't leave you to face that monster alone."

"Please Mione, just go, go and vind Dumbledore and tell him what is happening. I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

"Mate you can't be serious, you-know-who will kill you." Ron said anxiously, finally realising what was going on.

"Tom Ron, call him Tom." Harry said with a weak smile. "Don't worry about me I know what I'm doing.

"Harry you're an amazing wizard… I just don't think you should…" Neville tried to dissuade his friend.

Harry looked all three of his friends in the eye one at a time then softly said. "I don't think you know how much I love you guys… it is just… I need to do this. It will be fine." He said this while giving then all a hug. Ron looked confused by this sudden gesture and Hermione had tears in her eyes. Surprisingly Neville just nodded his head and then shook Harry's hand. "Give old snake face hell." He said before taking the potion out of Hermione's limp hand and taking his share he passed it on to Ron and strode through the purple flames. Ron unthinkingly put his moth to the bottle and took his share and was thought the flames before he even contemplated his actions. He was not comfortable with all the emotions he was feeling right now. Hermione gave Harry one last hug whispering, "Be careful" before she downed the last potion and was gone.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Dumbledore ran up the stares to the main entrance of the castle. He was getting too old for things like this and he was certainly feeling his age after his mad dash to the castle from the forest where his steed laded.

"Goodness Albus, what's going on?" McGonagall asked as the old headmaster passed her in the hall where she was patrolling.

"The stone has been compromised, be need to get there and protect it, he wheezed out of breath. The transfiguration professor palled remembering the first years tried to warn her but she had paid them no head.

"Oh, Merlin."

"We must hurry, go and alert the rest of the staff, I'll go ahead while you organise everything." he said, she just nodded and followed his orders. He was glad for it. It would take a while for all the staff to organise themselves. He did not want them to witness what happen in the chamber. He hoped that they would only get there when everything was over. He gave a quick prayer to al the gods he knew that the boy would make the right choice and oppose the darkness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry took a minute to collect him self and figure out how he was going to deal with the being that was constantly ruining his life. He thought a bit about it and then he got a devious smile that would make any marauder proud. He knew he would be unable to kill Voldy at the moment. A situation he would soon be remedying. Yet nothing prevented him from having a bit of fun and thoroughly confusing the Dark Lord. Later on when Harry thought back to this night would blame what he did on Dumbledore and his constant efforts to save him from the dark. He remembered that he read somewhere in a psychology book that kids became the labels they were given. However, Harry was not thinking about psychology at the moment he was contemplating how to approach the dark annoyance. He cast a quick disillusionment charm on himself, took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames. "Tom Riddle Here I come," he whispered, and he drained the little bottle in one gulp.

For a moment, he could see nothing but dark fire - then he was on the other side, in the last chamber. He stood still to reorient himself and for his vision to readjust. He smirked as he heard Quirrell murmur to himself, not even noticing that there was someone with him in the chamber.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this... but the old fool is in London... I'll be far away by the time he gets back..." Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it. "I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?" Quirrell cursed under his breath. "I don't understand... is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"

Harry could barely suppress his laughter, he poor man was pathetic. He aimed his wand at the mirror and quickly cast a _reducto_. This was one ancient artefact he did not mind destroying. It did more harm than any good anyway. It also prevented him from accidentally looking into it. He could not afford to have a breakdown in the middle of a confrontation with the Dark Lord. He aimed the curse so that it would pass right over his defence teacher's shoulder and singe some of his robes and hair in the processes. His purpose was to let it look like he had in fact aimed at the professor and not the mirror. Quirrell jumped out of the way with a squeak fumbling with his wand while turning to face the unexpected danger. He could however discern nothing in the darkened chamber. Harry then gave the most sinister laugh he could imitate, all the while thinking that it was ironic that all those dreadful horror movies that his cousin had made him watch with him, so that he could have a scapegoat when he was caught by his mom watching age restricted movies, were, now useful. The possessed professor aimed his wand and randomly shot a stunner in the general direction that he heard the noise.

"This is sad really, a defence master, mindlessly cursing like an inept boy playing with his daddy's wand." Harry said in a tone of voice that he remembered Lucius Malfoy used to sound like in his old time line.

"Who are you?" Quirrell demanded angrily.

While Quirrell was staring into the dark, Harry had moved in the shadows to the other side of the room, just to add to the freak-out factor. If anyone had told him that he would one day be toying with old snake face like this he would have thought them mental. Then again, he was probably the mental one for disregarding all the danger and doing the insane deed that he was. He laughed again insanely while sending a silent _incendo_ at the dark wizard's robes. "That would be telling." He mocked in an insane voice reminiscent of Bellatrix.

"Show yourself!" he demanded while frantically trying to put out his flaming robes.

"Very well, spoilsports, and I so looked forward to torturing you, guess you want a quick death." Harry whined while taking down the charm hiding him. He was however not mindless enough to leave himself defenceless. While he was mocking the professor, he had wandlessly erected a strong invisible shield around him.

"Potter!" Quirrell gasped in surprise and anger when she saw who his attacker was. He always knew there was something off with the boy.

"Let me speak to him... face-to-face..." came the eager hiss from the back of the poor man's head.

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough... for this..."

Harry felt like vomiting as he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. How absolutely, incredibly dumb, should a person be to willingly allow something as horrendous like that to happen to yourself? Just the thought of having a parasite like Voldy share your body with you was enough to make him ill. The brief moments that he had had to endure when his mind was invaded were enough to last him a lifetime. Just like he remembered at back of Quirrell's head was a face, the terrible face that haunted some of Harry's dreams.

"Harry Potter..." it whispered. "See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... when you prevented faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest I thought that you were another silly light wizard that would have to be killed... it would have my revenge for what you did to me all those years ago."

Harry just snorted, it was always the same, a silly rant followed by an attempt to convert him and then kill him after the refusal. It was like one of those old movies. He almost expected to old spirit to say "Luke I am your father."

"But I see now we are kindred spirits. You have no trouble striking from behind. We could be great together. Join

Me!

Harry just snorted again.

"There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it..."

"Do you honestly think I would share my power with you? Look at you, you are a powerless has been. The world will be mine. I hade the power to banish you from the forest without a sweat, what makes you think I could not destroy you if I wanted to. I have control over magic you can't even comprehend with your pitiful mind. Maybe if you can figure out how to regain your body and demonstrate your worth I will let you join me." Harry laughed evilly again.

Voldemort hissed angrily. Harry just smirked and continued his taunting. "By the way you should get better minions. I stole the stone weeks ago and the dead squirrel that you inhabit did not even realize it. Oops, I guess that means no reincarnation for you. Better luck next time."

Harry could sense that he was going too far and that he was seconds away from being AKed. He gave his most winning smile. "I agree we could do a lot of things if we don't try to kill each other, when you regain your power contact me and we could maybe negotiate." Harry said. Inside he was almost breaking with laughter; he could not believe that old Voldy was actually falling for his act. He was however not that distracted. His magical senses tingled, alerting him that a powerful wizard, probably Dumbledore was approaching. As much fun as it was toying and confusing the Big Evil guy, he could not afford the old goat to hear this and make the wrong conclusions.

"Sorry time's up. Time for me to act like the mindless brave hero rushing in to save the day. See you." Harry said brightly even thought he knew this was going to hurt. He knew he could not just kill Quirell with a curse; the only way to make this look convincing would be to do it the same was as last. Hopefully with his expanded core he would not pass out from magical exhaustion again. A familiar needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar, as he grabbed onto Quirrell's throat and wand hand. His head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might to keep his grip, Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.

"Master, my hand, my hand!"

"Then kill him fool!" screeched Voldemort, not prepared to be bested by a boy that wanted to steal his place of glory. Quirrell raised his other hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face…

"AAAARGH!"

Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, just like last time Quirrell could not touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain.

Harry caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could, he just hated his small body; however with all his martial arts training he had a lot more agility and he manage to hold on a lot better that the last time. To his immense satisfaction he also manage to get in a few good kick and punches, that were Quirrell to live through this, would have rendered him unable to conceive children. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off … the pain in Harry's head was building…he could not see… he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, probably Dumbles and the other teachers finally coming to the rescue crying,

"Harry! Harry!"

He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down... down... the last thing the could think of before the blackness claimed him was that maybe this was not the brightest idea he had.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

So finally the next chapter. I would like to thank all of you for reading my story and encouraging me to update. I'll try my best to update sooner the next time but will make no promises. Luckily the year is almost past and things will hopefully be back to normal after my year in academic hell (just kidding I really enjoy my studies, just wish I had more time to sleep, read and have fun. At least now, I know why all psychologists are insane, it is the trainings fault. lol)

**Thanks to:**

GoldenPhoenix 12 ; AirForceMarauder ; Dragonstorm31; Studebaker1960 ; Vixen Uchiha ; daragon10 ; Evilgoddss ; BlackRoseFire; Miss Millie ; CheddarTrek ; infnty-n-B3Y0ND ; GuardianOfTheMorningStar ; o-O-Kiss-My-Ass-O-o- ; CrayonsPink; loopy dane ; happy-reader007 ; jumping-jo ; banner ; poshini ;XxEro-GakixX ; SapphireDragon92 ; Lyonnyte ; Maxtaf ; Esuslol ; TonTongue; Lazy Drifter ; lauthom ; tommy198 ; T. E. Rankin ; cHoc0' caT ; potterpotterloverlover555 ; freaknalien ; ChristinaAngel ; of.serendip ; EriKaBalDeL ; fred2008 ; Ginnyfan99 ; dupel ; Eloisa Skywalker ; Bobboky; blackrhino ; pottersparky ; Make-War-Not-Love ; jay21317 ; Freckleforce01 ; Gred Forge vs Marauder ; Weasel Debater ; Aerowind Kinomoto ; BreetanyaViolet ; hattuteline ; HappeeGoLuckee ; Scribe1270; Ash Petal ; jpotterNY ; azphxbrd ; Sano-Sama ; joejoe11478; Quacked Lurker ; Jarvey ; hyperfuzzy ; PapaMidNite ; Dwarven HP fan. ; qtar1984 ; pbdp ; sropike ; Lady Silverhawk ; Tsukikage Hoshiko ; ranma hibiki ; Aealket ; Wolfric ; Dark Lord Of Ori; volleypickle16 ; BDSanta2001 ; queenofspades19 ; jabarber69 ; Untamed of Wildwind ; enderverse ; kingdom219 ; Cheska ; hpnut1 ; air maiden ; JMMendiola ; The French Dark Lord ; carrebear14 ; jojobevco ; LadySwiftwing ; Prie ; Silver Warrior ; Twin Tails Speed ; Innortal ; Minathia ; kehlencrow ; FrostyAKF

**For reviewing: It really helped me to write this chapter when my will was gone and my muse missing**

Let me know what you though of the chapter, soooo…

**Review!**

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Amberile B-)


	21. The Parting of the Ways

**Fight against Fate**

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

_Lot__'s of thanks to my Beta _sunsetwings _you are the best._

**Chapter 20**** The Parting of the Ways**

Draco was sitting on his bed, curtains drawn. In a week, he would have to go back to the hell he used to call his home, before he came to Hogwarts. Just a week, before it would be back to the sneers, the insults and the pain. When he was younger he never realized how bad it really was. However, after a year away from it all, he had a new perspective.

His young mind was frantically trying to figure out a way to avoid going back to the 'loving' care of his father. He still loved his mother and did not really want to leave her, but she was either clueless of, or blind to, what his father did to him. He knew that now that he had a wand and basic magical knowledge, his father would be eager to take his 'training' to the next step.

Draco had snuck into the restricted section during the course of the year and had looked up Dark Arts and their effects if the necessary precautions were not taken. He was certain that his father did not practice any of the necessary meditations or cleansing rituals. The idea that he would be systematically tainting his soul with every dark spell he performed was not a nice thought.

Draco had always been of the opinion that magic was magic and light and dark did not matter. However, after his research, he now had a new insight. Dark magic was not evil as he had thought initially. It just worked on a different principle. Whereas 'light' magic required Intent, Focus, Relaxation, and Decision, 'dark' magic worked differently. Intent and Decision was still needed, except the Focus was not in the magical flow, but on the emotion powering the spell. Relaxation was also cut out, sure you still needed to be calm, but depending on the emotion that you used to power the spell, it would influence if you are relaxed.

To be able to use Dark magic, you needed to use strong emotions. Unfortunately, most wizards found it easier to use negative emotions, like anger or hate, to power their spells. That was the reason for the misperception that dark magic was evil. Very few wizards managed to power their spell by emotions like joy and love. Most never even tried to attempt it, just because of all the wrong perceptions.

Draco was fascinated by it all. After learning about the existence of dark magic that used positive feelings, he looked for examples. He would never have believed that the patronus charm was, in fact, a Dark Art. Draco also learned that continually 'mixing' your magic with bad emotions, like hate, could and would taint your magic and eventually your soul and mind. This could actually explain why his father had become more violent as the years went by. The sad thing was that it could so easily be prevented.

By simply meditating and centring your magic, you could 'filter' the emotions out of the magic, so it would not build up and cause the negative effect. The objective was to have 'pure' magic. A pure core had stronger magic than a core that was 'contaminated'.

Draco guessed that this was where the whole pureblood supremacy notion started. If his theory was correcte, there were some seriously misguided purebloods out there, including his father. Unfortunately, he knew that he would never have the courage to share this information.

Despite the fact that he thought his life sucked, he would still prefer keeping it. Dying at age twelve, just because he could not keep his mouth shut, was not an option.

In his research, Draco had even come across a few easy purification rituals that could be preformed after extreme use of Dark Arts, for example after a battle or a dark healing ritual. The fact that Dark Arts could be used in healing blew the blond Slytherin's mind.

All this, however, still did not help him with his problem.

He looked at the stupid muggle diary that his father gave him. How was it possible that this little book could do anything? Once again, he paged through the blank pages. After all these months of daily handling the little book, he just could not resist to write in it. Maybe he could wield the power that was supposedly inside the book. He could use it and show his father that he was not as weak or helpless as he thought. He would be more powerful than the man that fathered him. He would make him bow before him and make him pay for all the suffering he had put Draco through.

The moment the first drop of ink met the smooth blank page, Draco felt a relief that he had not felt in months. It was as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. It felt as if he could breathe for the first time. He would never give this diary away. It was his and he would use it for his own purpose. Now he just needed to figure out how.

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Something gold was glinting just above him. _A curse! _He tried to dodge it, but his body was too heavy to move. He made ready for the impact, yet nothing happened. He blinked. Immediately, everything came into focus; years of training and experience taught him to become fully aware the moment he opened his eyes, no matter how injured he was. Survival first, injuries and comfort second. He quickly went over his last memories and assessed his surroundings. _"Crap, I hate waking up in this place. Memo to self, never play with Dark Lords and _never_ ever willingly touch them." _He blinked again, to get used to the light. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him. _"Bugger, I really don't want to talk to the old fart now. My head hurts and I'm not up for games of wit and truth. Ah well, better just get it over with."_

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry stared at him. Then he remembered how he had acted the previous time. Obviously, Dumbles thought he was the brave hero that rushed in to save the day. Better not shatter that illusion. Harry wondered again, what the old man would have though if he had heard his conversation with Riddle. In his most anxious voice he said, "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell!"

"Calm yourself, dear boy; you are a little behind the times," said

Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does?" Harry asked in his most panicked voice. He was actually wondering what Dumbles would do about the missing stone. Would Perenell have told him it was gone or that it was a fake, or would the headmaster think it was stolen? "Sir, I …"

"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out." Dumbledore tried to calm the distraught boy. He was pleased beyond belief. In the end, the boy had come through; all his efforts through the year was starting to bare fruit. He would win the boy for the light yet.

Harry could see the scheming in the old headmasters blue eyes and looked around him at the table piled high with what looked like half the candy shop, to distract him from his momentary bout of anger and resentment.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret; so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt, they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

Harry just smiled at that comment. He would need to get the twins involved in his little study group. They were valuable assets to have on your side, and great friends to boot. It did not escape him that the headmaster had not answered his question about the stone. He was the master of deflection and distraction.

"How long have I been in here?" he wondered if it was the same as last time; maybe his recovery time would be better this time round.

"Two days. Mr. Weasley, Longbottom and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"_Score;__ I have a new recorded, recovery down by one day,"_ Harry thought happily, but regained focus again and forced his mind to concentrate; he hated it when his mind was so fuzzy because of potions.

"But sir, the Stone…"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor

Quirrell did not manage to take it. The stone was destroyed when you shattered the mirror."

"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly, but inside he was smiling, the old man would never know about his little burglary. "But your friend … Nicolas Flamel …" Harry asked, while he wondered how he would manage an apprenticeship with a wizard that was supposedly dying.

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted.

"You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and Perenelle will die, won't they?" Harry asked anxiously. If they really were dying he would have been upset that Perenelle would soon be gone. He was congratulating himself on his acting. A year of practice had helped him a lot.

"They have enough Elixir stored for s few years but yes, they will die eventually." Harry would have to give Perenelle credit for spinning that tale of a few years stock. That meant that their plans were still save and the old man none the wiser. Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face, mistaking its true meaning.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible; but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all… the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

Harry wanted to strangle the old man; he supposedly had just caused the death of two people, one that was his friend, and he was just seeing it as sending them on a new adventure. As good and noble as the old man was, he was just as twisted and misguided.

Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.

"Sir?" said Harry, getting to the part he had wanted to talk about the whole year. It was time to see if Dumbels would come clean or if things would stay like the previous time. "I've been thinking... sir… even if the Stone's gone, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?'

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share... not being truly alive, he cannot be truly killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as to his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time… and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry was feeling nauseous; this little recruitment speech was sickening. He was eleven and the man was already preparing him to be a soldier and weapon, yet refusing to do it outright or with the proper training. He would never understand the old man. Why all the mind games? Harry nodded, staying in the role of the gullible child, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt. Then he said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me... earlier this year you said there would be a time that I would ask about the truth, and exchange answers; that time is now..."

"The truth…" Dumbledore sighed.

"Yes; I ask again, why would Voldemort want to kill me?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time. "Alas, I still cannot tell you.

You are not old enough to know; you're still not ready."

"Headmaster, this is your last time to come clean; I will not give you this opportunity again. We could be in this as allies and equal partners, or as two separate factions. It is your decision. It does not matter to me what your choice is; however, the first option would be a lot easier and beneficial to us both."

Dumbledore just shook his head sadly, the boy did not know what was at stake. The boy's little secrets could not compare to the magnitude of what he was keeping safe for when the time was right. He wanted to know what the boy was hiding, but it was just not worth sacrificing years of planning.

"Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them… but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"

Harry just shook his head sadly; Albus would never again be his mentor as in his previous live. The line was drawn and there was no going back. He would do this alone, just like he always did. He did not need the old man, but it saddened him nonetheless. The time for waiting was over; he would leave the old man and his order behind.

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"I don't understand why you're in such a mood!"

"You can be such an insensitive bitch sometimes!"

"No need to call me nasty names! Really, comparing me with a canine; you say the weirdest things sometimes."

"I'm leaving; if you can't understand why I'm upset, I'll go find different company."

"Don't tell me you're still upset about what happened to that silly boy."

"You don't get it, do you? You know that bastard that dumped you and abandoned you here fifty years ago."

"Why bring up that subject, you know I don't like to talk about it."

"Yes I know, you never talk about it, you rant, moan and complain about it every second of every day."

Zally gave and insulted hiss but did not comment.

"Anyway," Amberile continued. "that stupid, filthy, ugly, bastard nearly killed my friend Harry!"

"I see no problem with them killing each other, that way they can't come in here making promises and breaking our hearts."

"Ooh, just get over yourself," Amberile hissed in exasperation while sailing away.

"All right, I'll meet with the boy. Don't go now, it's lonely when you're away."

Amberile hissed again, turning back to her oversized, egocentric and sometimes annoying, friend.

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Harry sat brooding for hours after the visit with Dumbledore. He felt strangely empty; true they had not gotten along so far this year, but this was like the final break. All hope that he had held for his old mentor was finally gone. It was like losing him all over again.

"How's my little trouble maker?" came the cheerful voice of Perenelle, breaking Harry from his negative thoughts.

"I have been better; remind me not to kill evil possessed professors anytime soon," Harry said with a smile.

Perenelle was a bit worried at that response. The boy was eleven and had just killed someone in self-defence. Yet he was shrugging it off as if it was a normal daily occurrence. She could sense he was troubled and sad, however she could also sense it was not because of the most obvious reasons. She could strangle Albus for putting the boy through this.

"I'll do that, I know how much you dislike this room," she smiled, better play along and let him feel comfortable, he would soon tell her what was bothering him if she did not push.

"Yeah, can you believe it; I'm here again, and this must be some kind of Hogwarts record. I swear one of these days Madam Pomfry will reserve a bed in here just for my use."

She just laughed at that. "Can you blame her?"

"I think there is something wrong with her. She gets way too much pleasure out of torturing me with her nasty potions. I swear Snape makes them taste so vile on purpose."

"Oh Harry, it can't be that bad?"

Harry just shook his head and smiled. "So what brings you here?"

"You, who else? I don't see any of my other friends in here recovering from injuries."

"I thought you were looking for _Dumbledore_." Harry said. "But I appreciate the visit."

Immediately, she realized a shift in his mood as he talked about the headmaster. Now she knew the person behind his feelings of sadness; now she only needed to find out what the old goat had done this time.

"Harry, you know I am an empath and that I can feel your emotions; do you mind me asking you some questions."

Harry sighed and gave a little nod. "I don't promise to answer them, but yes, feel free to ask."

Harry knew she was a mind healer and it made sense that she was here to debrief him after what should have been a traumatic experience for an eleven year old. He only wondered why nobody bothered about his mental health in his other life. He could actually have used it then.

"What did Albus do to make you so sad?" she asked.

That question really surprised Harry; he did not expect her to talk about that.

"I see you're as perceptive as ever." Harry gave a weak laugh. Then in a sad serious voice said, "He did not do anything really, I just came to the final realization that he would never be the mentor that I hoped he would be for me."

"I did not realize that you wanted him to be your mentor. I got the idea you did everything in your power to annoy him," she asked, surprised at the seriousness and honesty in that answer. Once again she felt like strangling her old friend. This boy that was closed up to everyone, and seemed so independent and unreachable, desperately wanted the guidance of Albus and the old man tried so hard to give it, that he effectively pushed the boy away.

"No, I actually enjoyed all our little verbal spars, but he will never be the person that I hoped he would be. He is too stubborn and manipulative. Too stuck in his ways. I wanted a mentor not a commander."

Her heart wanted to break, out of all the talks that she had had with Harry throughout the year, it was clear to her that there had never been an adult figure that Harry looked to for guidance; the only two people that even came close were Master Li and Mrs. Deviliers. Until now, she thought Harry would refuse anyone that wanted to fill that kind of role in his life. To think he was looking for it, and everyone was ignoring it, was sad. She resolved to have a good talk with Nicolas before the boy came for the holiday. She would not allow him to also fail this precious boy. He would be more than just another teacher. She was sure that her husband was the mentor that Harry so desperately needed.

"I am sorry that you feel that way. I'll have to give him a good kick in the pants the next time I see him."

Harry just giggled at the thought of this six hundred year old lady kicking the great Albus Dumbledore. What made it even funnier was that she would actually do it.

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"Lower your arm slightly, gives better balance." Master Li instructed as distracted Eleanor. For the past few days since her father had come home, she just could not concentrate on anything. Not even her martial arts with Master Li could make her focus. Occlumancy was a futile idea. Just as she decided to stop for the day, Remus entered the dojo.

"How is he, can I see him?" she asked anxiously. After Remus came out of the room and told her that he did not think it was a good idea for her to meet him just yet, she had asked about seeing him every time she saw Remus. She understood the reasons why she could not see her father, but she could not help feeling resentful. Her whole life she had longed for a true family. Now, her father was under the very same roof as her, and she still couldn't see him. In fact, he did not even know that she existed.

"Oh El, I know you want to meet him, but he is still in a very bad shape."

"But I can help him, I could use my gift."

"You're not trained to use it yet, you could go insane by attempting it. You know this."

"Yes but, I can't do nothing. Just let me see him, please?" she asked desperately.

"Let girl see dad, man need joy and inspiration to recover. Too much sadness, guilt. Need love, need support. Apart, they are both hurting; will heal each other," Master Li said. He had observed them the past few days and came to the conclusion that it would be best. He knew Remus would consider any advice he gave.

Eleanor gave a thankful nod to her Master and then cast a hopeful glance to her sort-of uncle. Remus contemplated it for a long minute, inadvertently torturing the young girl with his silence.

"Very well; I'll tell your dad everything when he wakes up and then you can meet him. But no using your powers and you must wear you blocking amulet…" before he could finish his sentence he found himself with an arm full of happy girl squeezing the life out of him. Considering that he was a werewolf, that was one strong hug.

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Just like every time he landed himself in the hospital, Madam Pomfrey was very strict; she was a nice woman, but totally overbearing.

"Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"You let Professor Dumbledore in..."

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster; quite different. You need rest."

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Anyway, I have read in a muggle medical journal that happiness, friends and family contribute to a faster recovery. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey..."

"Oh, very well," she said, shaking her head, the boy was always a charmer and had medical knowledge that astounded her. "But five minutes only." And she let Neville, Ron and Hermione in.

"Harry!" all three friends said together and then started to laugh.

Hermione flung her arms around him again; Harry's head was killing him, but he did not mind his friends' affection

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to… Dumbledore was so worried… and I felt so guilty because I let you go alone… and…" she babbled still keeping her strangle hold.

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

Harry told them everything that happened after they parted ways. His friends could not stop apologizing for getting him into this mess. They now knew why he wanted them to stay away and did not want to help them figure it out. Ron made a promise to himself to listen to Harry; after all, he did know the future so he would know best to avoid trouble.

"So what happened to you three?" said Harry.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "We were dashing through all the obstacles to get up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the hall outside Fluffy's door… he already knew… he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled into the room."

"He did not even give us time to explain it was all our fault," added Ron.

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" ask Neville. "Sending you your father's cloak, leaving all those clues and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did… I mean to say that's terrible … we could have been killed if you did not come after us."

"Yes it is," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore.

I think he sort of wanted to give us a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here; you know about the spying paintings and ghosts. I reckon he had a pretty good idea you were going to try, and instead of stopping you, he hoped you would get me involved. He taught us enough to help and then testing our skills. I do not think it was an accident that he showed me the mirror. It's almost like he thought he had the right to test me against Voldemort..."

"Yeah; Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron in disgust at his fallen hero.

"Well, we know we should watch out for him now, so we should be better prepared for next time," said Neville.

"I know what he did was twisted and wrong, but he is not an enemy; just a misguided ally." Harry said, he did not want to alienate his friends from Dumbledore, he just wanted them to be more aware of the true nature of things.

"Misguided or not, we should still watch out for him and his manipulations," huffed Hermione. Nobody harmed her friends and got away with it.

"Listen; you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and we won!!" said Neville, trying to change the subject and distract Hermione from her brooding.

"Even though Ravenclaw steamrollered us at Quidditch without you. The divergence in points were still enough to scrape a house victory." Ron added.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.

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The end of the day found a deeply thinking Dumbledore up in his office. Not even Fawks' singing could gain his attention. As so many times in the past year, he had only one person on his mind; Harry Potter.

He was pleased and relieved that the boy stood against evil. Yet he was saddened that the boy still, after all this time, did not trust him. He knew it was because he would not share the secret of the prophecy. However, sharing something like that with a boy so young was not even an option. He needed to play and grow and learn not to worry about war and murder. His deepest desire was for Harry to be happy. He did not know were he went wrong. What he could have done differently. How he could gain the boys' trust. Maybe he should offer the boy an apprenticeship when he returned the next year. He knew the boy craved knowledge and would not be able to resist. Through their work together, as mentor and bonded they could build on their relationship. If it was not for the need to maintain the blood wards, he would make the offer right now. Nonetheless, it would be better to wait. As the events in the recent past proved, the wards were needed.

The only other different thing that was bothering him was the dirty look Perenelle gave him after her visit with Harry. When he first contacted her to help him with figuring Harry out, he never thought it would put a strain on their relationship. They had been friends for many decades now, and he could not understand why she was annoyed with him whenever Harry was involved. She also refused to discuss anything that she and the boy talked about. She gave him little to no information. He was actually amazed at the two's relationship. What could an almost twelve year old boy and a six hundred year old lady possibly have in common? He wished he could understand the boy; but no matter how hard he tried, Harry stayed a mystery.

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Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. He had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving him one last check-up. He also needed to run up to his dorm to store the gift that Hagrid had given him; he was once again the proud owner of a beautiful leather-covered photo album, filled with pictures of his parents.

The Great Hall was already full when he arrived. It was decked out in the Gryffindor colours of red and gold to celebrate their victory of the house cup for the first time in six years. A huge banner showing the Gryfindor lion covered the wall behind the High Table. Harry was glad that his house deserved this victory this year and not like the last time where Dumbledore meddled with the points at the last minute to gain favour with him. That was just plain cruel what he did to the Slytherins, no wonder they looked for acceptance from the likes of Voldemort. Everyone else treated them like crap. When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione with Neville on the other side of the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him. Once a celebrity always a celebrity and he could not think of how he would change it in the future. He must have an inbuilt attention magnet.

Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your minds are all a little fuller than they were... and you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty again before next year starts..."

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding. Let's all give a cheer for Gryffindor for taking the cup this year!" A deafening roar went up in the hall as everyone besides the Slytherins cheered.

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An exhausted and extremely agitated spirit was making his way in the direction of Albania. Voldemort did not know what to make of the boy-who-lived. All year he'd observed the golden Gryffindor. To all appearances, he looked like you standard good guy. The hero of the light, the savoir of the wizarding world. Yet, in the forest, he and a few other pathetic first years had managed to banish him, using powerful magic that was unknown to him. Until his latest meeting with Potter, he'd suspected it was a branch of Dark magic that he had not yet explored. He would need to find it and learn to use it if he wanted to regain his place of honour. He had always hoped that he would be able to corrupt the boy hero and lead him on a path to darkness, crushing the hope of the annoying light followers. Now it would seem that instead of having a servant, he had a worthy opponent and possible ally. But first, he would need to gain his body back, and show this young upstart that he was still a force to be reckoned with. He did not know how to feel about this whole situation. He was furious that a boy could defy, disrespect and defeat him, yet he had hope that the side of darkness would finally have the upper hand. He would need to take some time to think what his next move would be and what to do about Potter. Were they allies or enemies…?

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An exhausted Harry snuck back to his bed in the Gryffindor tower. After the leaving the feast, just as he was making his way up the stairs to his room, Amberile sailed up to him and asked him if he could please come and meet with Zally. He was tired, yet excited; after almost a year of repeated efforts, the childish basilisk finally agreed to meet with him. H grabbed his invisibility cloak and donned it before any of his room mates could see, and snuck out.

Thinking back on the meeting was not the greatest of introductions, but if was a hell of a lot better then the previous lives' encounter.

Zally was petty, moany and egocentric; yet she agreed to be friends with Harry and that she would not go about petrifying students. She also promised Harry that she would let him know if someone else came down to her chamber. Over all, Harry was happy about how the meeting went. He just wished he knew how Amberile could stand the huge snake. He was glad he would not need to spend a lot of time in the Chamber of Secrets. Zally would have driven him crazy within the hour. Then again, he could not blame the poor creature. He would also lack social skills if he'd had to spend the last fifty years in isolation.

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The next morning was filled with the usual activity of last minute packing; their wardrobes were emptied, trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays, not that it would matter to Harry ether way. On a split decision, Harry removed the tracking spell on his friends wands, with strict instructions to only practice where no one could see. He did not want their skills to become rusty over the holidays.

They were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns. A pair of excited redheads popped into Harry's compartments. They were professing their undying gratitude for his tips about studying. They did great in their exams, surprising the entire faculty. Snape even accused them of cheating, after they got O's in their potions exam. They had a wicked gleam in their eye as they said that their mom would not even be able to complain about their pranks anymore because it was aiding them so much academically.

Harry debated about removing the tracker from their wands as well. However, he decided against if, if only for Mrs. Weasley's sanity. He suspected they had figured a way around the law on their own anyway, so it would not do to make the twins suspicious of him by sharing such a secret. He would rethink it next year, when the twins were a more intricate part of their group. He planned to expand his circle of friends. The more people he had on his side, and trained up, the better.

He reflected on the year that had passed. In many respects, the year was only there to lay the ground works of his plans. Next year, and the years to follow, the serious hard work would start. A lot of wonderful, interesting and unexpected things had happened, yet so many things stayed unchanged. Some new bridges were built and some old ones destroyed. In a lot of respects, things were better. Harry felt better connected to his friends and even some of his teachers like McGonagall.

He only wished he could find that little butterfly that was flapping its tiny wings somewhere in the universe and causing some of the disasters that was happening around him and that he could not control or perceive yet. It was the little changes that he did not notice, or dismissed as irrelevant, that was bothering him most. Simple mathematics told him that adding up little changes and problems would equal a huge change and a possible disaster. Maybe he was paranoïed; maybe he was unreasonable and worrying about nothing; he just could not help thinking that somewhere a huge change had occurred and he did not know about it yet.

"Come out of it mate; we're almost there," Ron said while waving his hand in front of Harry's eyes. Harry just smiled to his friends and shook his head to clear it.

Soon the compartment was full of activity, pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station. It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they did not attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron eagerly, "all of you …I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll see if it is possible, but I don't know; I already made other arrangements for the break."

"Don't tell me you plan to train in martial arts the whole summer," Ron complained. Neville just smiled and Hermione looked interested.

"Yes actually; I have been slacking the whole year and I really miss my master. But it won't be the only thing I'll be doing."

"As long as you don't work and study the whole time, it's fine; but you need to relax a bit. It is the holidays and there is no need to be serious all the time."

Harry was surprised to see that even the study addicted Hermione agreed with her red haired friend.

"Fine; I promise to have some fun. Happy?"

Neville just laughed at the interaction while Ron looked satisfied. People jostled the little group as they moved together forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world.

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So here it is, not such a long wait this time. Let me know what you guys think.

Next update wil be somewhere around December, but first I have to hand in my thesis and write my final exams. So wish me luck only a few more months and I will have my "freedom" back. Lol.

I thinks this story will have about another two or three chapters before I end it. The next story will begin when they are on the train for their second year. Please send me suggestion of a title for the sequel.

Also thanks for all the nice reviews. I'm hoping to hit the 1000 mark soon.

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	22. Beginnings

Chapter 21: Beginnings

Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Here it is the next chapter, it took longer than I planned but I travelled for two weeks where there was no web access (not even telephones). I hope you like it. This storie is almost done. Yay!

Lots of thanks to GigoLove07 for helping me with the betaing.

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Most people lived their daily lives day by day. The past was that which had already been lived, history it is called. The future is that which was yet to come. Most people's plans, hopes and dreams were in the future. They had to pass through the present to get to the future, but still for most they could never reach those things that they thought would be in the future. Then, all throughout this difficult structure of what people perceived as time, there were also "entities" like Fate and Destiny messing everything up and making it difficult for some individuals that was marked at their creation as the chosen ones. They were those "lucky" few that these entities took a personal interest in. There were also those special people that could glimpse the future and even briefly converse with Fate. However, these categories of people could be described as normal. The chosen ones would disagree, especially if they had a vendetta against Fate. But essentially, they were relatively normal and they lived in time, day by day. There is, however, those unique people who live outside of time. They experience the past, present, and all possible futures all at once. These special people, although they could be called unfortunate, were often ridiculed for their strange behavior and classed as insane. No one realized how truly unique and valuable they were. Fate cried for these children because they were closest to her. Most of these children died still young from the strain of living in so many places at once. Others after a while truly went insane because of the lack of support from the people they lived with. But fate was hopeful that someday one of her children would transcend all this and become as she intended them to be, she waited so long for one of her children to use the gift she gave them. Centuries passed and none of her children succeeded, but she kept hoping, and so once every few decade such a special child entered the world.

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"There they are, look there by the gateway," an excited Ginny pointed out to her mother. She had waited a whole year to see her brother and her pen pal Harry again.

"I wonder why they are going through." Molly said as she saw her son and his friends leave the platform.

"Probably just saying goodbye to his muggle-born friend," she thought as she looked for her other three sons. She was not too worried that Ron had left the platform. She was more concerned about finding her two trouble making twins before they destroyed something. True, they were doing better in school, and she even got a letter from their head of house commending Molly for finally threatening then to study. She was at a loss where the sudden improvement came from and it somehow worried her more then their normal goofing around.

Percy was first to find his family and greeted his mother formally, then he disappeared again, saying it was his duty as prefect to check that all the students got off the train in order. Ginny just shook her head. Especially when she saw through a compartment window that Percy's duty included kissing a Ravenclaw girl. She could barely suppress her giggles. She would have blackmail material on him for the rest of the summer. She just had to figure out how to use it correctly. She was sure the Harry would give her good advice. It was always a good idea to have the dirt on your brothers in a house as large as hers. She had learned at an early age how to deal with the boys. She exploited the fact that she was the youngest and only girl as much as she could. In the Weasley family you had to fight for your spot in the sun, or like in Ginny's case, be smart enough to get it. Not that her family was vicious or violent. It was just that they were a lot of people living in one place with not a lot to go around between them. They were close knit and really loyal and she loved everyone to bits; it was just sometimes that she wished for more space. This year of separation actually did her some good. True, she missed her brothers terribly, especially Ron, but this year she had the house just for herself and she got to spend more time with her mom. On the other side, that time would have been a lot more fun if her mom did not insist using their time together to teach her how to use household charms. She forced herself to focus again and look for her brothers. That time was in the past now, next time she came to the station she would be going away as a student. _"Next year would be great!"_ Not only would she finally be allowed to use magic but she could spend a lot more time with Ron and Harry. _"It would be so much fun!"_ Harry was such a great guy and the letters he sent her were all so nice. She hoped they would become good "real" friends and not just pen pals. She looked around and saw her brother and the boy of her musings re-enter the platform. She ran over to then and tackled them both to the ground.

"There you are, I've missed you sooooo much!" she exclaimed. Ron looked at his sister startled, he had no idea she missed him this much. But he did wish she would get off him his back was starting to hurt.

"Blimey Ginny, you pack a punch." He says with a smile.  
Ginny begins to blush only now realising that she had tackled them to the ground and was still on them.

"Errrr, mmm." Then she quickly got up, suddenly really shy.  
Harry remained frozen, he had just had the love of his life jump him and he did not even get a kiss out of the deal. Then his rational mind caught up with him and he felt really bad. Ginny was still a girl and she was not the same woman he remembered. This girl had a lot more self esteem and did not have the hero worship he remembered seeing in her eyes the first time. He like this new spunky attitude in the girl.

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Almost all of the people that were on the platform had left already. Harry stood around looking for his uncle. He could not understand where his relatives were. It was strange that they were not here to get him. Even in the old timeline they had always come to get him no matter how much they hated him. So why were they not here now? He thought they liked him a bit more this time round. He looked around one last time then started to push his trolley with his trunk to a more secluded space. The Weasley's and the Granger's actually did not want to go before they knew that Harry's relatives had come to get him. He had however reassured them that they could go and that his uncle could be there any time and was probably just stuck in traffic. Harry made sure no one was looking and then took out his wand and tapped his trunk with it to make the trunk small enough to carry in his pocket. He then walked out of the station, still wondering why his uncle did not come this time. It was little changes like this that worried him. If he was really eleven years old he would be in serious trouble right now. Being stuck alone in London at that age was not funny. Luckily he did not have such a big problem as that. He walked a few blocks away from the busy area and looked for an alley he could use. Finally finding one that was deserted, he quickly walked in. He picked up a piece of discarded rubbish and closed his eyes in concentration. Softly, he muttered 'Portus' and then tapped the junk with his wand. Smiling with satisfaction he disappeared from the London alley.

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He looked at his hand, staring at it not really seeing it. He shivered and his fingers trembled uncontrollably. Everything just hurt so much. He wanted it all just to end. It was not fair. But then again he had learned early on in live that few things were. He was stuck with a vindictive bastard as a father and he would just have to deal with it.

"I hate him," he said, not even realizing he was verbalizing the forbidden thought. He would have to endure another round of "training" if the bastard ever heard him. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" he repeated louder and faster. Then he took a deep breath. "I hate him." He whispered once again with a sob. Images flashed in front of his eyes. His 'loving' father coming to get him from the station, but the moment they were out of the public eye his father started to grill him for details of the year. Why was it that a mudblood, half-blood, a blood traitor and near squib managed to get better marks than him after all the extra tutoring over the years? What happened to the special package? Did he give it to scarhead? Why had nothing happened yet? Did he always display correct Malfoy conduct through out of the year? All those questions were like the Spanish inquisition. And just like those trials he was punished severely if he did not answer to the satisfaction of the monster that he had the misfortune to call father. He made sure that he did not make direct eye contact with his father when he answered. He could not risk his father finding out he was lying to him. He told his father that Potter had the gift and that nothing has happened yet, and that it was possible that it would take a little while to start working. His father was very annoyed at the lack of immediate results but let that matter pass. Unfortunately, he could not let the fact go that a filthy mudblood was supposedly better than his son. Draco had to survive one of those "fun" lessons of pain. He actually stopped counting how many times his father thought it was necessary to use the unforgivables on his son. In a brief moment of rebellion Draco wanted to scream at his father that he would not be able to achieve better grades in school if his father kept frying his brain cells. Luckily he knew to keep that to himself. Now he was back in his room trying to ignore the pain and the shame. He was tired of his father always criticizing him and hurting him. He was tired of having to always acting like a bastard, just like the man he despised so much. He was just so tired of it all. If he could get away from it, he would do anything. However, he knew it would not be possible; where would he go? Anyway, what would happen to his mother if he left this bloody house? There was nothing he could do. He would just have to go on like normal. As he was thinking all this he made sure his door was locked. Then he took out the little book that had caused him so much trouble in the year. He when to his desk, then took out a quill and sat down. He dipped the feather into the ink and tentatively starting to write in it. Before he even knew it he had written everything that had happened, his feeling, his anger, and his hate. It was almost as if he could not stop himself writing about all his frustrations, pain, anger... It was as if an external force was compelling him to write more and more. Pouring his soul out into this little book.

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Sirius stared at the ceiling above his bed. The last few days had been so confusing. He remembered a flash of an old man and then he woke up to find Remus smiling at him. He did not know what to feel anymore. He felt relieved and grateful that he was rescued from Azkaban, however he also felt guilty at the same time. He felt he needed to be punished for letting his friends get killed, for letting that bastard of a rat escape. His thoughts drifted aimlessly. He had no purpose, he was just a burden, a pile of worthless flesh. He knew that he would not be able to show his face in public. He would be hunted down and taken back to hell and probably given the kiss if he was caught. He still did not understand why Remus would risk so much to rescue him. If it was ever found out that the wolf helped him he would be slaughtered like some wild animal. Nothing made sense. He did not know what to do, what to think, what to feel. Everything was just a huge mess.

There was a knock on the door but Sirius ignored it. He just wanted to be alone. The door opened anyway and Remus entered. Sirius just kept staring at the spot above his bed. He knew his old friend would start speaking anyway. They had done the same thing for a few days now. Sometimes he would not be able to stop talking with his friend and he would laugh and think of the good times. Other times, he would start crying and sob like a little child in his friends arms. And other times like today he would just not have the energy to move. He would listen to his friend talk but would keep staring at the same spot. He hated that he had no control over how he acted. His emotions felt like a ping pong ball. He was all over the place and he did not know how to get himself back to normal. He was afraid that he would never be normal again.

"Sirius there is something really important we need to talk about," Remus said.

Sirius just kept staring at the same spot.

"Sirius, look at me. I need to tell you something important," the Wolf said seriously.

Sirius tilted his head to the side and looked in the direction of his friend.

Remus smiled at his friend a bit nervously and uncomfortably. "Right, I don't really know how to tell you but… mmm… you have a daughter."

Sirius stared at Remus and gave a weak smile. Thinking that this was a prank to cheer him up a bit. "Nice one Moony." He said with a hoarse voice but with out any real enthusiasm.

"This is not a joke, Paddy. Her name is Eleanor and at this moment she is anxiously waiting outside to meet her dad for the first time."

"How is this possible?" Sirius gasped.

"I don't know Sirius, I thought you broke up with Rosie."

"No, we got engaged in secret, but I got scared she would become a target of my family so we staged a break up."

Remus snorted, the break up was a really public and embarrassing thing, and they even went as far as hexing and cursing each other in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Sirius ignored his old friend and continued to speak, not to explain to his friend but rather to figure it out for himself. Speaking his thoughts aloud.

"She went into hiding, far away from me, we though it would be best if no one saw us together… I… How is this possible? How did you get into contact with Rosie, is she also here?

"Sirius, I'm sorry but I don't know where Rosie is. I found Eleanor by accident."

"But how? I mean… What happened to Rosie? Where did you…"

"Sirius, calm down." Remus said to his anxious and confused friend.

"Calm down!? You just told me that I had a daughter, but that you don't know where her mother is. That the woman that I loved is missing! How can I be calm?"

"Paddy, breathe, we will sort this all out. But first you need to calm down."

"I want to meet her, where is she?"

"I will call her in a minute but first you need to calm down. I won't let you hurt her just because you are upset." Remus said without thinking.

"What do you mean I'll hurt her? I'm her father! Just because I was in Azkaban does not mean I'm some kind of barbarian!"

"Paddy hush! She is an empath and if she was to enter this room right now she would feel all your pain, anger, confusion and all the other things you are feeling at this moment," Remus tried to explain.

Sirius took a deep breath to calm down. His poor little girl, of all the family talents to inherit she got the worst one. His cousin Bella also had that gift and she went insane even before she went to Hogwarts. His family members were cruel bastards and they twisted her gift and turned her into a homicidal maniac. He just hoped that they had found her before it was too late. He would not be able to handle it if his daughter, the only person he had left besides Remus, was insane or as twisted as his wicked cousin. He took another deep breath and slowly let it out. "I want to meet her."

Remus nodded and then he walked to the door.

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Perenelle was sitting in her garden at their summer villa. The bees were buzzing around the flowers, and here and there fairies flew. If she looked carefully she could see a number of magical creatures in the enchanted gardens. However, she was not noticing any of this; rather she was deep in thought. She was thinking about a powerful black haired, green eyed wizard. He was still such a young boy, but it was as if he had seen the world and lived through its torments. She just could not figure him out. He had so much compassion and it was clear that he cared greatly for his friends and classmates. However, at the same time it did not seem that he trusted anyone, especially adults. He was hiper vigilant and had extreme reactions to unexpected stimuli. He also had an incredible amount of power with some pretty unique talents. However, he seemed to be in control of that power. Something that was impossible to do at such a young age. He was passionate, and a born leader. He also had a strong independent streak. All year she had tried to get through to him, to gain his trust. To find out how he had been hurt so badly. Yes, she knew he had been hurt, she was sure of it. Even if he never gave even a small indication of it, she knew. What intrigued her the most, however, was his admission that he needed a mentor. This powerful independent leader was desperately looking for some guidance and it would seem that no one had stepped up and taken that role. Not even Albus, supposed greatest wizard of his age, had seen the need. It made her so sad, she wanted to help Harry. She wanted to take away all the pain and the sadness. She knew that she would have to guide him. A person as powerful as Harry that was being neglected could lead to disastrous consequences. If only he would trust her enough that she could help him. So far she could do nothing but a few friendly talks. He would not allow her to help him with his dreams and other problems. True, muggle psychology was effective, but if he would trust her enough, she could do so much more with her magic and empathy. She just hoped that he would learn to trust her in the months he would be staying with her.

"What is troubling you, my sweet?" a voice said beside Perenelle.

"Oh Nic, you startled me," she said with a smile.

Nicolas smiled at his wife and sat down on the bench beside her. "You have been out here for hours."

Perenelle took awhile to gather her thoughts and then replied. "I was thinking about Harry. I spoke with him before he got out of the infirmary. He told me some things that really made me worry for him."

"I know you can't tell me about your patients' secrets, but as he will become my apprentice is there anything I should know so I can train him better?"

She smiled at her husband; he understood exactly what she wanted of him. "He needs a mentor, not just a master to teach him nice magic tricks, but a true mentor and guide."

"Do you think I am still able to connect with a kid at my age?" he asked with a grin.

"Nic in the six hundred years that I have known you, you have never grown up, of course you'll be able to handle one kid." She said with a fond smile.

"Watch your tongue, woman." He mock scowled at her.

She laughed but then became serious again. "Nic, he really needs us and I know you'll do a wonderful job. Helping him might be the most important thing you do in this life."

"Do you really think so?" He asked soberly. It was not often that his wife was this solemn.

"Yes, there is something special about Harry Potter, I can't place my finger on it, but I can feel it."

"Then I'll just have to do my best." He said while taking her hand and linking their fingers together.

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The warden walked down the dreary desolated corridor of Azkaban prison. It was time for his monthly inspection of the cells. He was supposed to do it weekly but nothing ever happened in the prison except more of the bastards going insane, or if he was lucky, die. Why bothered exposing yourself to those dreadful dementors if it was unnecessary? The only reason he bothered doing it once a month was to remove the bodies of the guys that had enough and decided to kick it. This time he was lucky that his inspection coincided with the annual visit of the minister.

Working at Azkaban was the most boring job in the word, he was sure he was banished to this place because he was too friendly with his superior's wife. There was no other explanation. Nobody got assigned to this desolated rock if they did not mess up big time in their other job in the ministry. The most exciting thing that ever happened in this place was when there was a visitor to the prison. Sadly it only happened about twice a year and that included the ministers yearly visit. It was strange to have two visits to the prison so close together.

It was yet another cold and windy day, like almost every day was on Azkaban Island. The ocean currents smashed waves on the rocks that the prison was build on. Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic, hated coming to this god forsaken place. It was the one duty that he disliked the most. But as minister he had to make an annual visit to the prison to oversee security. Not that he even knew anything about security, but the public needed to think that he was interested and that his yearly visit would keep them save. Politics was a complex thing. You did not actually have to do anything constructive. It was more important to let your voter think that you were busy with doing things for their greater good. So here he was in this awful place, walking from cell to cell, just so that he could report to the public that they were still safe and that he actually really cared and was actively involved in their safety. He had been here for an hour now and every cell was the same, slightly insane prisoners that did not even notice that he was there to inspect them. The warden opened the next cell door with a rusty creek. And stepped aside, he walked in looked around and saw no one…

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It was time again, the wind was blowing. The wind, always the wind, they lived by the wind, and they died by the wind. They needed the wind; it was their main source of magic. Wind was power and energy. Without the wind they were powerless. With the winds that were blowing everyone knew it was time again to continue the struggle. Years of struggle, years of anguish and pain, but it was worth it, as they would not be oppressed. They would fight the evil sorcerer that was trying to enslave them, but to do it, they needed the wind.

The men stood in rows, feathers in hand, ready to catch the magic and energy. For weeks they scurried around gathering feathers, risking everything by robbing birds' nests, everything in preparation for the next time the wind blew.

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Eleanor took a deep breath, hesitating with her hand on the handle. She, however, did not enter the room. She did not know what to expect. For the first time she would be meeting her father. Would he like her? Would she finally have a family member that loved her? Was he all right? Remus told her that he was still in a bad condition. She yearned to help him, to take all the pain. but she knew she was not trained well enough to help without causing even more harm to the both of them.

She took another deep calming breath, exhaling it slowly. She readjusted her pendant to make sure that she would not be affected by his emotions. She slowly pushed the handle down, she hesitated again and then she hesitantly pushed the door open.

She stared at her father sitting up in bed, and he looked up at her just as unsurely as she was looking at him. It seemed as if there was storm in his eyes. Even though the stone and runes was blocking out most feelings she could she the conflicting emotions is his eyes. She felt a lot of sadness and regret, but at the same time she could also see the wonder in his eyes, as if he was looking at the most precious thing in the world. She did not know how to interpret everything she was seeing and feeling. His emotions were starting to mix with her own turbulent emotions and she was unable to separate her own feeling from her estranged father. She saw him move his arms hesitantly, as if he wanted to get up and come over to her, but then he thought better of it and remained on the bed. She did not even realize it, but she was mirroring his behavior. She had an urge to go over to him and give him a hug. It was the weirdest feeling. He was a complete stranger to her and she never touched anyone if she could not help it. She was already feeling too much of his feelings. If she was to touch him now it would simply be too much to handle. He looked at her with a smile on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks. As she looked at her father, the urge to go over to him just got stronger. They did not say anything, too awed at finally meeting each other. It was as if they were both in some kind of surreal dream. She took a slow, hesitant step towards the bed. And then, before she even knew what was happening, she was in his arms, and they were crying and laughing all at the same time.

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Thanks you so much for everyone that has reviewed this story. It is always great to hear what you guys think about my story. Your questions and suggestions are always appreciated.


	23. Meeting Padfoot

**Chapter 22 Meeting Padfoot**

_Disclaimer: This story is based on JK Rowling, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. _

_Hallo again, I know it has been a long time since my last update but I honestly did not have any time. Anyone that has ever studied in the medical field will tell you it is brutal. My biggest excuse for not writing is one dreaded word: Anatomy. I just can't get it into my head and it is one of those annoying subjects that I have to pass or I'll get kicked out. So I apologize for making you wait so long but I really did not have a choice. _

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_**## All hail the wonderful Lady Knight Keladry for betaing this chapter ##**_

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Harry appeared at his home and cautiously walked to the front door. He did not know what to expect. There was no reason he could think of for the Dursley's not getting him. In the other timeline, they despised him even more than in this time, but they had never failed to come and get him. He rang the bell, trying to be polite even though this was also his house. He did not want to surprise his relatives. Surprising Vernon could be quite hazardous to your health, especially if your name was Harry. He waited anxiously for someone to come to the door. He debated if it would be wise to ring the bell again. Eventually, Dudley came to the door; he looked really cautious and almost afraid. A bit of relief flooded over his face when he recognized Harry.

"Hi, cuz," he whispered. "I think it would be best if you sneak in. Daddy is in the funniest mood. He is acting really strange."

"Who is that Dudley?" a call came from deep in the house.

"No one, Mom, just some kids playing around," Dudley called back.

"What is going on?" Harry whispered, having a really bad feeling.

"Not here, let's go up to my room and then we can talk where he won't hear," Dudley whispered again.

Dudley silently snuck up the stairs. Harry smiled when he saw this; the Dudley of his other life would never be able to pull this off. It was a wonder how much good a few spells on Petunia had done her son. No spoiling equaled no mini-whale. Harry quickly followed his cousin up the stairs and silently closed the door behind him.

"What's up?" Harry asked anxiously, wondering what he had messed up in the timeline to have caused this.

"I don't know. Daddy suddenly developed an extreme anger management problem. He hit a colleague at work and broke his hand. He is now on suspension. That's why he couldn't come and get you. He was still in the hospital getting a cast. I asked mom how you would get home, but she did not seem to care either. I don't understand it; before I went away to Smeltings, everything was still fine. At Christmas, I started to notice that their moods were a bit off but I just thought it was because they missed me. They bought me like a million presents and spoiled me rotten. Now obviously, I did not complain but it was still strange. They have never treated me like this. When I got back from school this term, things were a lot worse. I'm like the angel that can do no wrong and they blame you for everything that is wrong in this world even though you were all the way in Scotland at that special school of yours. I'm really worried," Dudley finished his worried explanation.

"This doesn't sound good," Harry said to himself. "Where are your parents now?"

"Mom is in the kitchen preparing a mountain of food and Dad is in front of the telly being a grumpy bastard," Dudley answered with a frown.

"If I have to eat another one of mom's treats, I'll puke, again. She is feeding me as if I'm a small giant; she just says a growing boy needs his food. At the rate she is feeding me, I'm going to grow sideways and not up," Dudley complained.

Harry suppressed his laughter and only a snort came out.

"It's not funny; I have resorted to vomiting after meals just so that I won't burst from all the extra food."

"Wow that doesn't sound good," Harry said, now worried again.

"I know, but it is the only way; if I don't do it I feel sick the whole day."

Harry just shook his head, wondering why Petunia and Vernon had suddenly decided to turn into their old selves after all these years of behaving nicely.

"I would suggest you find some place else to stay, it's not safe to be here. If Dad sees you, he will break your neck, and I mean it literally. He is blaming you for everything he did wrong at work. Mom isn't any better either, she gets this weird frown when she hears your name."

"That doesn't sound good," Harry said again with a frown.

"Jump ship before they know you're here, I'm also trying to get away. So far, nothing's worked out but I just can't stay here all summer. I'm willing to do anything just to get away. I'll even attend summer school," Dudley said desperately.

"Can't you just go to one of your friends?" Harry asked while he was thinking that he would have to ask Master Li if he could stay with him or if he could go to Perenelle's early. He wanted to keep the wards intact but if not even Dudley wanted to stay here, he certainly did not want to either. The wards were not that important if he had to compare it with a hellish summer and possible bodily harm. Dudley's answer broke Harry out of his thoughts.

"I can't, she won't take that as an excuse, she says that she has spend the whole year away from me and she wants to make the most of our time together." Dudley looked as if that thought was causing him pain.

"I need a valid reason; I have even considered shoplifting and getting caught. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to spend some time away from home as punishment."

"Dudley, that is just the worst plan I have ever heard, I know things are looking bad, but I don't think that plan is a good one."

"I know, if it was any good, I would have done it already," Dudley said with a frown. "If only I knew what happened to them to change them so much."

"I don't know, but I think I have a way to get you out of here. I'll just have to go and find some things out," Harry said. Dudley looked at him with so much hope in his eyes that Harry felt really weird. In his other life, Dudley had been his enemy. In this one, he was pleading with Harry for help and giving him warnings.

"You did say you would do anything?" Harry asked to make sure. Dudley just nodded emphatically.

"I'll see what I can do," Harry said, walking to the window. He needed a moment to think. He needed to work out what went wrong. This was not supposed to happen. Something big had changed and he had no idea why it was happening.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was pandemonium at the Ministry of Magic. Someone had escaped from Azkaban! Who could be powerful enough to do such a thing? Who was it? How could the people of the Wizarding World ever sleep securely at night again?

The ministry was abuzz with people spreading bits and pieces of the story and making everyone anxious with fear. Fudge tried to cover it up but the news spread too fast. He then turned the whole event into a media circus. He wanted everyone in the wizarding world to see how much effort he was putting into catching the criminal and keeping them safe. In a huge press conference, it was announced that the notorious mass murderer and Death Eater Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban. Aurors were dispatched to all the public places, and warnings and wanted poster were distributed.

_The Daily Prophet_ made a fortune with a three page exposé of the evil escapee. Mothers were overprotective over their kids and business owners were cursing because this would affect trade negatively. Even the Muggle minister was informed and the "pleasmen" were also looking for the criminal. An in-depth investigation was launched, but no one could figure out how the convict had managed to escape.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry snuck back down the stairs, and as he headed to the door, he heard the main report on the news. What he heard made him freeze him in place, his world turning upside-down.

_Breaking news, mass murderer Sirius Black has escaped from prison. He is armed and dangerous… _

Harry did not hear the rest, his head was spinning. _"Sirius escaped a year early, how, why, when? How will this affect everything? Will Voldy come back a year early?_"

"They should give him the chair when they get him." The grumbled remark came from inside the room. Harry's heart clenched together. _"Where is Sirius? Is he safe?" _came the worried thoughts.

He tried to focus again but his world just did not want to turn right side up. _"What if I lose him again? What if things changed too much?"_

Harry ran outside, not worrying about the noise anymore. He needed to get to Remus and tell him about Sirius. He berated himself, he should have told Remus that Sirius was innocent but he had not wanted to involve him too much. He knew that as a werewolf, Remus would not be able to do anything, but he needed to inform him now just in case.

He quickly ran over to master Li's house; he just hoped that Remus was there.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sirius and Eleanor were sitting on his bed in his room. He could not stop staring at her; she was so beautiful just like her mother. They had spent a lot of time together since the day of their meeting. At first, they had been unable to say anything, they had just stared and cried and laughed. To anyone walking past the room, they would have seemed insane. Only after they had both calmed down did they begin to talk. Sirius told Eleanor about her mother, how they had met and how much he'd loved her. Eleanor told her father about herself and how she had lived before she met Harry. Sirius was outraged to learn about her mistreatment but he was also amazed that his other ward, his godson, had found and rescued his daughter. It was too amazing to comprehend. He could not wait to meet Harry.

While they were sitting like this, just absorbing each others company, they heard an anxious call for Remus downstairs. They quickly got up to go see what was going on.

"Harry, calm down! What is going on?" Remus asked the anxious boy that had just burst into the house.

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself, "Did you see the muggle news?"

"No," Remus answered bewilderedly, wondering what could possibly upset Harry so much.

"They say Sirius escaped," Harry said, wondering how he would explain to the wolf that Sirius was innocent and also how he knew this.

"Harry, calm down, there is something I need to tell you about that."

Harry looked at Remus, wondering what his pseudo-uncle knew.

"Harry, I know you have probably heard that he was your godfather and that he was a criminal, but he's not."

Harry's breath caught, Remus knew. He'd never imagined this when he was visualizing this discussion. _"How did he find out?"_ He just stared blankly at Remus.

"Harry, he is innocent, and I broke him out of Azkaban."

"You what?" Harry asked, confused.

"He is innocent and I broke him out of Azkaban. There is no need to be afraid, Harry. He is a good man, and he wants to meet you. "

Harry did not hear everything; he knew Sirius was innocent and a good man. He was more confused about what had happened to screw up the timeline like this. If Sirius could break out of prison earlier, then Voldy could be resurrected earlier and then everything would go to hell. He was not ready yet. His friends still needed to learn a lot, and he still needed to go after the Horcruxes. Things were not supposed to happen so fast.

"Cub?" Remus asked Harry, concerned. It seemed as if the boy had frozen up. He walked up to the boy and gave him a hug. While holding tight to the boy, he heard him mumbling about how evil butterflies were and that they were minions of Fate and that he wanted a word or two with the bitch. Remus wondered what was going through the boy's head. He was acting really strange. Just as he released the frantic boy, Sirius and Eleanor came down the stairs, looking curious about what had happened. Harry turned around when he heard the steps. He stared at Sirius with wide eyes, he'd never thought it would be so weird and painful to see this man again.

"Sirius," he whispered with tears in his eyes. Then before he even realized what he was doing, he was holding the man in a vice-like grip, holding on as if for dear life, crying his heart out. All thoughts of how strange his behavior was were disregarded. He had waited eleven years to see his godfather again. He had missed him so much, but along with that feeling, he was also feeling very guilty. He felt guilty for killing him the first time, he felt guilty for leaving him in Azkaban all this time. He felt guilty for not telling Remus, and he felt guilty that he was worrying about the damn timeline when he finally had Padfoot back.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over again.

Sirius looked bewilderedly over at Remus. "What is going on?" he mouthed so that the boy that was clinging to him did not hear.

"That is little Harry, and I think he is glad to see you," Remus answered, a bit confused about Harry's behavior. Sirius smiled and hugged the boy back while wondering why the boy was apologizing. Eleanor smiled at her father and uncle from the door. She did not go into the room, worried that Harry's emotions would be too strong for her to handle at this moment.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Fred, George, Ron!" the call came up the stairs. "Go de-gnome the garden."

Ron frowned when he heard his mother's call. He had barely been back for a day and already he had to do chores. He was not used to being back home yet. Sure he had missed his mother while school was still on, but now that he was back home, he missed his friends. He missed Harry's guidance, his joking around with Neville, and he even missed Hermione and her constant flow of information. At school, they were inseparable and unstoppable. He was amazed at how well he had done in his first year with the help of his friends. He held no illusions that he would have done this well without Hermione and Harry's help. He realized that Harry did a lot to encourage him and Neville. The dark-haired boy just seemed to know all their insecurities and had a way of dispelling them without any apparent effort. He still felt a bit inferior to his friends at times but those moments were becoming less and less as he discovered his strengths and role in the group. He felt wanted and like a true friend, he was not just the sidekick of the great Harry Potter, he was a member of the now notorious 'Dream Team'. He still did not really like the name but the other students seemed to like to refer to them as such. In a way, it was nice to be part of something that his brothers had not had first. He was starting to build a name for himself, finding his place at Hogwarts apart from the image of his brothers. He was also relieved that he was not the first Weasley to fail. In the beginning of the year, he had been so afraid that he would let the family down. Every one of his brothers was/had been popular and successful. He did not want to be known as the dumb Weasley, or the one that had a free ride on the back of Harry Potter. He was proud of his achievements, and he knew he had worked hard to get the results he got. He wondered what adventures they would get up to in the next year.

"Ronald Weasley, come down this instant!" his mother yelled again, forcefully pulling him from of his musings. "I'm coming, Mom!" he called back as he ran down the stairs. When he got down, his saw his twin brothers already waiting for him.

"So nice of you to join us, Ronnykins." Fred said with a grin.

Ron gave a shudder; the twins were extra dangerous after the 'helpful' advice that Harry had given them. Knowledge was power indeed and their use of this power was explosive, literally. Ron was really glad that Harry had not removed the magical trace on the twins' wands. If they could have done wand magic, they would have been impossible. As it was, they were already exploiting a loophole to make potions. No wand required. Rule number one: when being near the twins, do not touch or eat anything they offer you. He understood that, to them, it was innocent fun and he admitted to laughing at a few of their tricks but generally he preferred to stay in his natural human form without wings, feathers or enlarged appendages.

"Don't worry, Ronny; we don't have anything planned for you today," George said with a smile. Ron just shook his head in disbelief.

"Well we have only been back a day, most of our stuff needs a bit of time to simmer," Fred said.

"So never fear, tomorrow we'll be back in business," said George with glee.

"Someone murder me," Ron murmured with an exaggerated sigh.

The twins started to giggle maniacally.

Ron walked outside to get away from the twin maniacs; unfortunately, they followed him. They had to get rid if the vermin in the garden and he knew if they procrastinated any more, his mother would start one of her really loud reprimands. He stopped and looked around the garden.

"Silly buggers," Fred said as he saw some of the gnomes running toward them. "They always come out to watch when we start throwing them," George said as he picked one up and hurled it over the fence.

"I wonder why they do it?" Ron said, for the first time wondering at the significance of the gnomes' behavior.

"Dunno, they're not really very intelligent," Fred said as he threw another one. "Stop slacking and start working, Ronny.

Ron just nodded and started to help but something in the back of his mind was bothering him. He just did not know what it was.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was time again to try and break the bonds that were suppressing them. For weeks now they had been preparing, gathering feathers to harness the magic in the air. For years they had been fighting the powerful Crusty Picklechunks, a sorcerer that had been trying to enslave them. But all their efforts were hampered by the fact that they could not use any magic if the wind was not blowing.

They had tried numerous ways to draw magic when the wind was not blowing but the closest thing to success was using the giants' force when they threw them out of the garden. It was dangerous, but it was the only way to try and win their freedom. All of their bravest warriors ran up to the giants in hopes of gathering the magic they needed for survival.

Most of them could not remember a time when they were free. Some of the tribe elders told stories of the olden times when Crusty Picklechunks had not yet risen. It was unclear how he rose to power but it was rumored that he'd discovered a device to artificially create the wind and so he had an unlimited supply of magic. He used this power to its fullest and quickly bent it to his will. Some of the weaker clansmen had flocked to his side in hopes of sharing his power. The minions of Crusty Picklechunks had betrayed their clan and enforced his rules. But the warriors of the clan would not stand for this travesty and so the war had begun. Many warriors had tried and failed to find the device. Crusty Picklechunks stopped them each time. Many of the clan had started to lose hope and over the years, more people submitted to his cruel reign. But the warriors would not give up, someday, they would free their people.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

They were finally done with de-gnoming the garden and Fred and George quickly went up to their room to check on their potions. Ron decided it would be safer to stay outside. Besides, there was a smaller chance of running into his mom and getting more chores if he just stayed outside. The behavior of the gnomes was bugging him. He had never before bothered to think about it. He usually just threw them as quickly and as far as he could to get it over and done with so that he could go back to playing or flying. But after all the time he had spent with Harry and Hermione, he had learned to analyze his surroundings. He couldn't just ignore this weird behavior. He needed to find out what was going on. He quickly looked around to make sure no one saw him and silently drew his wand. He slowly crept to the perimeter of the garden fence, making sure that nobody followed him. He could just imagine how his brothers would mock him if they found out he was tracing the gnomes to discover the secret behind their behavior. They would think him insane to pay the little buggers any attention.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Chieftain, one of the giants is approaching the camp." One of the warrior scouts reported. The battle against Crusty Picklechunks was once again unsuccessful. They just could not gather enough magic to defeat him.

"We should evacuate to the underground tunnels. It is not safe here in the open," the leader of the can ordered.

"My Lord, I have a plan that could possibly help win us the war," one of the advisors said.

The chief looked impatiently at the warrior that had spoken. They had to evacuate before the giant got to them, and there was no time to make war strategies now.

"We can speak of it after we are safe. We should retreat before the giant gets here or Crusty Picklechunks launches another attack, it is not safe here.

"But, My Lord, if we could capture the giant and train it, we would have the upper hand in this war. It could be taught how to make wind. We could free our people if we succeed in this plan," the advisor quickly explained.

"This is insane!" one of the war mages spoke up. "We have no way of succeeding in this. It would be suicide to try." Most of the warriors agreed.

"The giant is away from the others so if we act quickly we can capture it before the other giants see us and try to stop us," the advisor answered.

"What makes you think that the giants are even trainable? If it got away, it would call the others and they would exterminate us. I know you want to try and find a way to defeat Crusty Picklechunks, but this is not the way. Time is almost up, we should go underground immediately."

The chieftain watched his warriors, mages and advisors argue. He would have to make a decision quickly. This could be they best chance to gain freedom, but was the risk too great?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Once Harry had calmed down, Eleanor entered the room. She sat down beside Harry, who was sitting in her father's lap on the couch. She took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. Then she whispered in his ear, making sure her dad could not hear, "I'm sorry."

Harry frowned at her. She gave a weak smile. "I know you have all these plans and that you need to be in control, but I could not wait, I had to tell Remus."

Harry did not know if he should be grateful or angry with her. If anyone deserved to have some happiness, it was her. Who was he to keep the girl away from her father just because it did not fit into his plans? He would just have to accept that some things were not in his control. Anyway he had never realized he'd missed Sirius so much.

He smiled at Eleanor to reassure her that he was not angry with her. Now if only he could think up an explanation for his weird behavior. For now, it did not seem as if his godfather minded his death grip of a hug. Actually, it seemed as if he enjoyed it.

"So what is all the whispering about?" Remus asked with a smile.

The two teens just shook their heads and smiled.

"Harry and Elly sitting in a tree…" Sirius started to sing.

"Dad!" Eleanor protested. Harry just laughed. "Sorry, Paddy, but I'm still in the girls are icky stage."

"Now, why don't I believe you?" Remus asked with a wicked grin.

"Probably because you didn't outright screamed eew," Sirius added with a grin, bumping Harry off his lap. Harry was caught totally by surprise and almost fell onto Eleanor.

Harry grimaced at the two men from his place on the floor. "Dream on." He then got up and found a new seat away from his foolishly grinning godfather. "Anyway, there is something else I need your help with." Now that he was over the shock of finding Sirius, he remembered that he had promised to help bust Dudley out.

"What's up, Cub?" Remus asked worriedly.

"We need to find a way to rescue my cousin from the evil clutches of my aunt."

The two adults stared in confusion at him.

"Well, they are acting really weird and they did not come to get me at the station. When I got home, Dudley warned me to escape while I could and that my uncle would kill me if he saw me. He also pleaded with me to find a way to rescue him."

Remus growled as he heard someone had dared to threaten his cub.

"Wow, Moony, calm down," Harry said.

"Harry, how can you possibly be so calm?" Sirius asked in surprise. "They threaten your life and you're all casual about it."

"You're getting off topic; I'm not the one that needs a rescue. I got out before they even knew I was there but I am worried about Dudley. If we don't get him out soon, the poor guy will either gain a hundred pounds or develop bulimia."

The two adults once again stared at him with confusion.

Harry just shook his head and explained everything more thoroughly.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Dear Perenelle_

_Would you mind if I started my apprenticeship early? Although I stated that I needed to remain with my relatives to maintain the protective wards, recent events have made this impossible. Furthermore, would it be a terrible imposition if I brought three more people with me? I know this is terribly rude to ask but I'm in a bit of a bind and I can't see any other solution. I feel, however, that before you agree, you should know that one of these people is a muggle, another is a werewolf and the last one is a wanted criminal so I would understand if you and Nicolas refused this request._

_Sincerely, _

_Harry._

"Oh, Harry, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" the six hundred year old lady wondered with a smile. She would gladly invite these extra guests; she knew the explanation for this would be fascinating like everything else that was connected to the green-eyed boy. But still, she wondered how a muggle, a werewolf and a criminal fit into the life of the Boy-Who-Lived. Nicolas would not mind either, he had never bothered with Ministry policy so housing a dark creature and a criminal would not faze him at all. Actually she thought he would appreciate the excitement. Life could get boring after a few centuries.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

_For those that are confused about Dudley's behaviour in this chapter, here is my explanation. Dudley grew up in a totally different environment from the one in the other timeline, and this had a huge influence on his behavior. He is not the spoiled brat he used to be. Unfortunately, his parents turned back into their mean selves the moment Harry was not there to put a spell on them daily. Unfortunately, Dudley is not used to his "normal" parents so he is confused and afraid of their "new" behavior. _

_As for Harry, he is just too absentminded to think of just reapplying the spell, he just got back and he has an anxious Dudley to deal with, warning him that his life is in danger. He does not have time to thing "oh crap I forgot the spell" he only think "how will I get out of here". Anyway Dudley would have a problem again when Harry went away to Perenelle's so it is just easier to get him out now. Anyway I think it will be fun to expose Dudley to a bit of magic._

_Also the name of "the evil gnome sorcerer" I got from a silly name generator. I thought it was hilarious to give the bad guy such a silly name. Anyway he is a little creature the size of a potato and I just could not take him too seriously. Not when Voldy and the Vampire Lord are there to compare his "evilness" to lol. _

_**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews !!!!!!**_

_**Amberile**_


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